The Mage Royalty
by A. Lee
Summary: HIATUS Evil threatens the Sol System, and the mage-royalty must be found, but there are several obstacles all must overcome along the way. The First Book is up. Undergoing Reconstruction
1. Book One: Prologue

*In the process of revision*

I am revising this and posting this up again chapter by chapter, although I will most likely keep up the original version at the end until I have posted up everything.  This is _still_ only Book I.  I _am_ working on Book II, but it is taking me a while.  Be patient.  I have taken some liberty with the timeline, to make sure that it suits my purposes.  This should _not be too much of an AU, and should fit with the Sailor Moon timeline, although I may choose to make it a happy ending.  Either way, ages are listed below, to give you a general idea._

Endymion:  15

Kunz:  15

Zoë:  14

Nephi:  14

Jay:  14

Trista:  14

Alex:  13

Michelle:  13

Heather:  11

Lita:  12

Raye:  12

Amy:  12

Mina:  12

Serenity (the younger):  10

Serenity (the elder):  Who knows?  Who has the guts to ask?

Luna:  looks 22, actually 33 in Mau time.

Artemis:  looks 24, actually 36 in Mau time.

PROLOGUE  
  


Everyone knows that the mage-royalty are gifted with talents beyond imagination, and are easy to distinguish from the common man…

            Yeah, right!  Luna and Artemis, the two Lunar Cats of the planet Mau, were charged with the task of finding the mage-royalty of each planet.  As they search wore on, they found that while most of the myths of the mage-royalty are true, some are just plain poppycock.  For example, that bit about them being easily distinguishable?  Hardly.  When you are searching for one person amid the millions of teeming humanoids … well, let's just say that finding a needle in a haystack is a piece of cake compared to this.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto 

Long, long ago, when the Divine Beings (the Gods and Goddesses) roamed the cosmos, many of them were not particular about their mates.  Their children and descendants numbered throughout the planets, and before long, the planets were crowded with Divine Descendants.  Not long after, the Divine Beings faded away, and no longer lived among mortals.

            Then, evil began attacking the universe.  To protect their children, the Divine Beings (now all residing in the Land of the Dead) decreed that each time evil threatened the universe, one of each of their children would become a mage-royal, and help defend the galaxy from evil.

            However, they did not take into consideration the fact that the human race would slowly erode with corruption, and that soon, the individual human mind was no longer valued.  They could never have imagined that overpopulation and degradation of cultural morals would result in an amalgam of human intellect wasted and thrown away.  The could not have foreseen that there would come a day when the mage-royalty would be lost in the morass of entropy, and would remain lost for a period of time so long that when evil once again attacked, they would not be prepared …

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

Luna grumbled.  "As much as I admire Queen Serenity, I still don't understand all the secrecy.  Why couldn't she have told us at the Palace?  But no … she has to send us to Pluto … the farthest, coldest planet there is!  'Wait,' she says.  'I'll give you instructions' she says.  Well, we've been waiting for two hours!"

            Artemis rolled his eyes.  "Stop grumbling, Luna.  Queen Serenity will tell us what she wants in her own time."

            "In her own time.  That's what I'm afraid of.  If she had her way, she probably wouldn't tell us for a whole millennium because she's so busy, she forgot."  Luna was about to say more, when a sound startled her, and a hologram of Queen Serenity appeared.

            "So, how are you, Luna?" Queen Serenity asked pleasantly.

            Luna looked as if she were caught with her pants down.  "Umm … Queen Serenity," she stammered.  "How has your day been?"

            Queen Serenity chuckled.  "Now that I've been insulted by a cat, my day is complete."

            Luna looked extremely flustered.  "I apologize."

            Queen Serenity's face grew serious.  "It is classified information that Queen Metallia of the Dark Kingdom has begun planning to attack the Silver Alliance.  Her first target shall be Earth, the one planet in the Sol System that is not part of the Silver Alliance."

            "We know this," Luna said impatiently.  "And?"

            Queen Serenity frowned.  "Patience is a virtue … admittedly one that I don't have either, but it is still something you should consider."

            "Yes, Queen Serenity," Luna said meekly.

            "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted … *glare* … I'm afraid that Queen Metallia is an evil that I cannot defeat alone.  So I have set this task upon you.  You are charged with the task of finding the mage-royal of each planet."

            "But that's only a myth!" Artemis protested, the only word he had said so far.

            Queen Serenity shook her head.  "Contrary to common belief, the Legend of the Mage-Royalty is not a myth, and now that the situation has grown urgent, we must find them."

            "We are at your service," Luna said, bowing the best she could on her four legs.

            "We are ready to accept our mission," Artemis said, copying Luna.

            "For the task set before you, you must be able to accomplish things you may not do in your cat-form.  Therefore, using the Imperial Silver Crystal, I grant you the ability to shift between cat-form and human-form whenever you wish."

            "Thank you, Queen Serenity," Luna and Artemis said, accepting the gift in the formal manner of Mau.

            Queen Serenity smiled sadly at her two feline advisors-in-training.  "Your first task is to seek the Mage-Princess of Pluto.  You shall receive further instructions then."

            "But how?" Artemis asked, baffled.

            Queen Serenity smiled at the two of them.  "When you see her, you will know.  When she nears the magic of the Silver Crystal, which I have cast upon you, the symbol of Pluto shall appear on her forehead."  With that, the hologram shimmered and disappeared.

            There was a silence.  Artemis spoke first.  "So … what do we do now?"

To be continued …


	2. Book One: Chapter One

*In the process of revision*

Ages

Endymion:  15

Kunz:  15

Zoë:  14

Nephi:  14

Jay:  14

Trista:  14

Alex:  13

Michelle:  13

Heather:  11

Lita:  12

Raye:  12

Amy:  12

Mina:  12

Serenity (the younger):  10

Serenity (the elder):  Who knows?  Who has the guts to ask?

Luna:  looks 22, actually 33 in Mau time.

Artemis:  looks 24, actually 36 in Mau time.

CHAPTER ONE – MEIOH SETSUNA 

Day arrived as silently as the night.  The sun was a mere speck in the sky, one of the many sprinklings of stars in the dark sky that remained unchanged from morning to night, except for occasionally, when Charon drifted by.  One could only tell the difference between night and day if one observed the people of Pluto.

            It was market day, and many odd figures were about.  Everyone was dressed in warm woolen cloaks, for even summer in Pluto has below-zero temperatures.  In fact, most people preferred to inhabit Charon, Pluto's moon, because it was more comfortably suited, being the first place settlers had attempted and succeeded to civilize.  Charon, like most of the other moons and planets, had a magic orb equalizing its environment and making it livable.  Pluto, alas, was unsuitable for such magical conditioning.  It was, of course, livable, had nowhere near the comforts of Charon.  This happened often on various planets, the moons being more receptive towards magical condition than the planets, with the exception being the Earth (and its uncivilized peoples) and the Moon (the epitome of civilization).

            The most conspicuous and suspicious characters were a young woman and a young man.  Instead of being dressed warmly, they were in loose-fitting clothes that barely kept any heat in.  This marked them as tourists, but peculiar ones, for they had not even bothered to bring any protection from the cold besides the silver glow around the two marking magical protection, which would insulate them enough to grant them life, but would not work enough to keep them comfortable.  Magical protection was expensive, and was usually used for purposes other than protection from the cold, so the two had to be incredibly rich _and_ incredibly stupid, natives reasoned.

            But all this was unnoticed to young Princess Trista Susan Hadei.  As Crown Princess of Pluto, she was currently in etiquette class, and was bored to death, not at all interested in learning the polite way to accept flowers from a married man or how to politely reject a marriage proposal.  She didn't see herself in either position anytime soon, especially seeing as how she was only 14, and not even come of age yet.

            "Princess?  Are you listening, Princess?"  The voice of her tutor intruded on her innermost thoughts and she looked up rather irritably.

            "Of course I'm listening, Etiquette Mistress," Princess Trista said sweetly, suppressing an urge to roll her eyes at the flighty and frivolous blonde.  "You were just talking about how to reject a marriage proposal."

            "And what did I say?" Etiquette Mistress asked, narrowing her beady eyes.  Her pale blonde hair and dark blue eyes were reminiscent of Lunarian heritage, and her accent was lilting, pointing towards noble upbringing.  How such a woman had come to be tutor to the Crown Princess of the most remote planet in the Sol System, Trista did not know, but the Etiquette Mistress's resentment at being stuck on such a cold, forbidden planet had always been plain.

            "One must be gentle, yet firm, kind, yet cruel.  One must squelch all possible thoughts of proposing again, yet leave him feeling as if it were a privilege for him to have been spoken to at all.  One must leave him thinking one is a goddess, yet out of his reach.  One must no longer accept any of his gifts, and cut off all communication, making it final, but one must also leave him with kind words to dream over at night," Princess Trista recited word-for-word from the textbook.  The Etiquette Mistress always taught exactly from the textbook anyways, so it never mattered.

            The Etiquette Mistress stared at the Princess for a while, before nodding.  "It seems that I have taught you well, Princess.  You may have a break."

            "Thank you, Etiquette Mistress," Princess Trista said humbly, before turning away to hide her laughter.  _She?  A good teacher?  As if!  Etiquette class is such a breeze.  The answer to everything is a lot of excessive fainting and unnecessary weeping, and being _regal_ yet _compassionate_, _gentle_ yet _firm_.  You'd think they'd have some more imagination._  Shaking her head, Princess Trista stood upright so that her back was straight as a rod, and gathered up her excessively flounced skirt, before moving to go to the Temple of Hades.

            The Temple of Hades, dedicated to the patron god of Pluto, was open to both peasants and nobility.  Princess Trista was accustomed to coming here when her troubles were too much to bare, and generally as soon as she bestowed a beneficiary smile on the people, they were satisfied with the blessing and left.  She enjoyed this duty, perhaps the only enjoyable duty of being the Crown Princess.  She was aware of how her long green-black hair swept around her, and how her stunning maroon eyes looked.  She knew perfectly well that her long black cloak done in the latest style was eye-catching, and she was proud of it.  When she walked, she took care to glide so that she looked like a Goddess herself.

            Today, however she had not expected to see anyone inside the Temple, as it was market day.  To her complete surprise however, there were two standing before the statue of Hades, God of Death.  One was a man, and the other a woman.

            Princess Trista Susan Hadei put on a superficial smile, even as she contemplated the origin of these two.  They were certainly not natives—they had on simple linen togas that were more reminiscent of the Venusian style, not at all useful in the cold Plutonian weather.  They could not have been tourists—tourists were not allowed in the City of Anubis any longer.  They were a strange pair indeed.

            "Are you from around here?" she inquired in her perfect princess voice as was required of her.  As Crown Princess of Pluto, one of her many duties was to greet all that were in the Temple of Hades each time she visited it.

            The woman with long black tresses, wearing a yellow sundress—strange, had it not been a toga earlier?—turned around, and nodded rather absentmindedly.  "And who are you, dearie?"

            Princess Trista was surprised.  Everyone knew who she was.  "I am Trista Susan Hadei, Crown Princess of Pluto," she said proudly.  She unconsciously flipped her hair, and stood even more upright.

            The man bowed respectfully, but queerly.  Instead of the required bending at the waist with his hands placed across his chest, one of his arms was in front of him, and one behind.  Princess Trista mentally reviewed the male bowing styles of the Sol System, and recognized this as the Lunar style of greeting.

            "You are far from the Moon," she said curiously.

            "We are not from Charon," the woman began.

            "I was referring to the capital of the Silver Alliance," Princess Trista said politely, interrupting the woman to gaze more intently in the man, who was now dressed in the style of a Plutonian peasant, complete with el-lined coat.  Now she knew something was wrong.  She _had_ seen him in a toga earlier.  "Magic," she whispered.

            "What?" the white-haired man (who did not look very old) asked.

            "You have used magic on your clothing," Princess Trista said in awe.  On Pluto, magic was so highly prized that even she, Crown Princess, was not allowed to use it for everyday comfort.  It was reserved for important ceremonies and crises only.  Even if this man came from the capital of magical industry, to have magic that changed clothing according to climate surely indicated great wealth.

            "You have sharp eyes," the woman noted, now also dressed in the style of a Plutonian peasant.  She held out a silver necklace on her neck.  "We were gifted this by a friend," she said.  "It supplies us magic when needed."

            At that moment, it emitted a burst of silver light.  Startled, Princess Trista took a step back, but not before the crystal struck her forehead the symbol of Pluto appeared upon it.  Trista, of course, did not see this.  All she noticed was that the man and the woman had begun to look at her strangely.

            "Is there something on my hair?" she asked anxiously, moving to pat her pride and joy, the hair that her mother refused to let her cut.

            The man stepped forward.  "We have been looking for you," he stated simply.

            Princess Trista stared at him, before backing away slowly.  "Okay …"

            "You are Meioh Setsuna, Mage-Princess of Pluto."

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

"We have done as you bid, Queen Serenity.  Shall we take the Mage-Princess to the Moon first?"

            "No, I'm afraid we don't have time, Luna."

            "Is something wrong?"

            "Yes, Artemis.  Queen Metallia is planning her attack on Earth right away.  I have already arranged for you to be transported to Earth.  You must find the Mage-Prince of Earth, and his four Mage-Protectors.  She will know when they have been found, and will hold back on her attacks.  You must find them quickly!"

            "Yes, Queen Serenity.  We are on our way."

To be continued …


	3. Book One: Chapter Two

A/N: For the Generals' names, I have their Shittenou name along with last names from various sources. For their last names, I used the names a certain author I have read used in her story. The "Masato" I am sure I have read several times in reference to Nephrite, (Sanjounin Masato, I believe it is). The "Maeda," I looked up, and apparently there is some actress named "Ai Maeda," which makes sense, as Kunzite does end up with the Goddess of Love. As for the other two, I am much too lazy to search their names extensively, so deal with it. In reference to the time frame, I am going to assume that the destruction of the Moon Kingdom caused enough time warps and wormholes and magical disturbances that our perception of history is skewed by that cataclysmic event, so some of our dates may be wrong.

Oh, and for the ages …

Endymion: 15 (in a general sense, as no one knows his exact date of birth)

Kunz: 15

Zoë: 14

Nephi: 14

Jay: 14

Trista: 14

Alex: 13

Michelle: 13

Heather: 11

Lita: 12

Raye: 12

Amy: 12

Mina: 12

Serenity (the younger): 10

Serenity (the elder): Who knows? Who has the guts to ask?

Luna: looks 22, actually 33 in Mau time.

Artemis: looks 24, actually 36 in Mau time.

CHAPTER TWO – CHIBA MAMORU, ASANO JADEITE, NISHIMURA ZOISITE, MAEDA KUNZITE, MASATO NEPHRITE

Luna, Artemis, and the newly-named Meioh Setsuna landed on Earth with a thud. All three were used to cushy rockets and specially aimed teleports (all three technically being part of the aristocracy), so none enjoyed the jarring impact of the floor after stepping out of the portal, which had incidentally appeared five feet up in the air, resulting in a haphazard fall to the ground. Setsuna was the first to recover, having being trained in appearing regal under the worst of circumstances. Although she had lived a pampered life, part of her "composure" training had involved experiencing a rocky teleport to Tennille and facing the lecherous and backwater prince of that planet with due aplomb. That disastrous test (which she had failed) had resulted in less cushy teleports (on her mother's orders) and exposure to some of the lechers, suck-ups, and snobs of the court, so she could learn all about courtly intrigue and diplomacy. As a result, that short (perhaps two-month long) period in her life of rough teleports had shaken her enough to prepare her for _this_ landing, which went beyond rocky into inhospitable. Fortunately, she had been the last to exit through the portal, and she fell somewhat on top of Luna and Artemis.

She glanced around her, and took in the surroundings, noting that the warm climate indicated that she was nowhere near Pluto … even Charon's magically-constructed atmosphere was nowhere near as balmy as this, even when it was closest to the sun. They were surrounded by gently rolling plains, sparsely located trees, and no sign of civilization for miles around other than the faint outline of something dark in the distance. "I wish I had a farviewer," she remarked, eying that dark splotch speculatively.

"We're not here to sightsee," an irritated Artemis grumbled, grumpy because of being the landing dock of Luna and Setsuna. He, as the first to exist, and had found himself being squashed almost immediately by Luna and Setsuna, both of whom were too heavy for him to support. He scowled at those two. "You two need to lose weight. Do you have any idea how much it hurt when you two plopped on me?"

Luna loftily ignored Artemis, being used to his impertinence, and asked, "What do you need a farviewer for?"

"One of the only useful things I learned in my Geography Class," Setsuna explained, "was how to recognize major landmarks as well as castle architecture on sight. If that blotch is a castle, I can probably guess what region of Earth we are in, and it is even possible for me to puzzle out who lives there, if the castle is well-known enough. If not, it will at least be a landmark I should recognize." She spoke rather pompously, her words flowing with diplomatic bombast, as she had been instructed since before she could speak.

Unfortunately, Artemis's acquaintance with stuffy aristocrats had always ended rather atrociously, and he despised pomposity in every way, shape, and form. He was laidback, a perfect contrast to Luna's fussiness, but his pet peeve was the bombast in which Setsuna now spoke. Before he could make the caustic comment lingering on the tip of his tongue, his sharp eyes caught sight of something in the distance that distracted him entirely. "Is that a person over that?" he asked, surprised. "I think he's herding cows."

"What are you waiting for?" Luna asked with impatience, itching to find herself in civilization again (she wasn't really a country girl, preferring the luxuries of the city despite her animalistic origins). "Let's go!" Without another thought, she began setting a brisk pace as she trotted towards the cowherd.

As Artemis and Setsuna moved to catch up, Artemis settling into a loping pace while Setsuna minced along surprisingly quickly in spite of her cumbersome skirt, something appeared to occur to Artemis. "Earth isn't a part of the Silver Alliance," he said, recalling this bit of information rather tardily. "How would you recognize the castle? All we know about Earth, and all that we care to know, is that the people of Earth have descended into savagery after being abandoned by Gaiea, and that recently the land which they called Pangaea has broken up." Of course, what the history tomes described as savagery was really nothing more than a lack of decentralized government. Most of the other Planets had enough magic to provide protection, but not enough for everyone to own a magical source, so a rather sophisticated feudalism had emerged, resulting in the kings and queens of the present day. Earth, however, had unending magic (which was also, ironically, inaccessible by any but the Mage-Prince of Earth, who in his power, had four Mage-Guardians) and quickly descended into thousands of warring tribes. Only recently had a rather crude feudalism emerged, one in which there were many kings of Earth, each ruling over a small plot of land. Yet it was understandable, when one thought about it. For some reason, life seemed to have originated on Earth, and although millennia of evolution had changed the appearances of the inhabitants of the various planets, Earth was supreme in its power … and its ignorance. This was why it had the Moon to protect it. This was why there were five Mage-Royals of Earth, as opposed to the one every other planet possessed. This was why its moon was the center of civilization. This was why the Moon itself, though but a satellite, had its own Mage-Princess.

It was also why Metallia wished to attack Earth immediately.

Setsuna didn't even bat an eyelash at the question. "We of Pluto, the smallest planet, believe that no planet, asteroid, comet, star, or moon is too insignificant to overlook, and we are careful that the royalty learns all of importance about those planets." Her pomposity descended into childish innocence as she made a confession. "Although it is true that I would much rather have learned practical things."

Luna, with whom Setsuna and Artemis had finally caught up with, asked Setsuna a question that had been nagging her for a while. "Have magical powers been discovered about you?" If she did have magical powers, why was she merely a Crown Princess, not one of the Magi? If she did not, how would she fare when she battled against Metallia?

Setsuna shook her head, a bitter sigh on her lips. "Everyone is tested at the age of five, regardless of rank, unless they dwell out in the uncivilized wilds of Pluto. The nomads who brave those wilds rarely come back from their expeditions, so they aren't tested. I was found negative, which was disappointing to my mother. She had hoped for a son so that the legacy of Hadei could continue, as she could no longer have children. Unfortunately, only I was born, and since I didn't even have magic, all that I could hope for was marriage to kind man who would be a good king so a new dynasty could begin. Rumor has it that my mom threatened to kill herself at first because she had been the one to solely end the long dynasty of Hadei.

"If my father were still alive, he would have taken a mistress long ago, and made the bastard son the Crown Prince of Pluto. Unfortunately, he died due to a successful assassination attempt."

"Princess!" Luna exclaimed, shocked that one of the gentility would utter such an epithet. "Watch your language."

Setsuna halted, momentarily surprised. "Oh yes," she said, suddenly remembering. "You Lunarians think that bastard is a bad word, don't you? All right, illegitimate son. I apologize for offending you. I don't know what came over me. If that had happened at home, my Etiquette Mistress would have had me writing lines."

As they began walking toward the human form again, Artemis asked, "Why didn't your mother just take a Royal Consort and have another child?"

Setsuna shook her head. "You don't understand. My mother is duty-bound to her husband once she marries him. Although he is dead, and she is a widow, the only reason she wasn't buried in his crypt with him was because she was with child (me), and I was the Royal Heiress to the throne (although at the time they did not know whether I was Heir or Heiress). Furthermore, she was only Queen by marriage; on Pluto, when your husband dies, any titles that you have gained through marriage are stripped from you. The only reason she remained Queen was because she had to bring me up to be Crown Princess of Pluto."

"Then what will Pluto do now that there is no Crown Princess?" Artemis asked, but the question remained unanswered for they had caught up with the cowherd.

The cowherd looked around him with surprise. He was not accustomed to meeting three strangers during his cowherd routine, but he knew that strange things happened once you left town boundaries. "And who be ye?" he asked cautiously.

Setsuna was the one who responded. "Gree'in's. We be lost'n' weary journers, see'in' a nearby village fer rest. D'ye know o'un?" She said all of this in a very countrified accent (complete with missing syllables and unconjugated verbs), her dialect contrasting greatly with her costume.

"'Round the necks' 'ill'n' pass th' twisted tree'll bring ye there," the cowherd said, tipping his hat.

"Thank ye," Setsuna said pleasantly, and strode briskly toward the direction the shepherd had pointed.

"Where did you learn that?" Luna asked, impressed.

"It's a skill I picked up," Setsuna shrugged. "I have an ear for languages, but I specialize in being able to speak dialects almost fluently after I hear a couple of words spoken in them." Saying this reminded her of the last time she had employed this skill, to embarrass the Princess Naira of Nimbus, who had whispered rude comment aloud in Nimbi, and reminded her of the laugh she had shared with her mother afterwards. Her mother who was most likely …actually, it was best if she refrained from thinking about what gruesome death her mother had most likely suffered through.

Artemis was about to open his mouth and ask another question, his eyes intent on Setsuna's troubled face, but his thoughts were cut off when they arrived at the village the cowherd had directed them to.

"All right," Luna took charge. "First order of business is to find out where exactly we are."

That was easy. A few questions informed them that they had encountered the small village of Artos, named after the legendary good King Arthur. After a couple of questions, they had a basic idea of where they were. Their next order of business was to five Mage-Royals who could or could not be close friends, and who _most likely_ dwelled within Artos, but not definitely. As Queen Serenity had explained, she had sensed five vague auras in this general area (and as this village was the only one around for miles), and had set them down at a spot closest to those auras. These five Mage-Royals would not even be recognized on sight, and could be identified only by their effect on Luna's and Artemis's necklaces.

So Luna, Artemis, and Setsuna methodically laid out a plan. They would stay at an inn that night, and scout the village for possibilities and for a map. If the five Mage-Royals weren't here, they would search the surrounding countryside methodically in the most efficient way possible. They knew for a fact that four of the Mage-Royals (including the Mage-Prince) were male, while the last of the Mage-Guardians was either a very masculine female or a very effeminate male.

Seeing as Artos had a population of ninety to a hundred (nothing compared to cities on the Moon, which were populated with bustling noise, children and adults of all classes, and incessant noise), it should not have been too hard to find five Mage-Royals. The key word in that sentence was the word "should."

Strangers and curious, such people as them were usually labeled Trouble, and the people of Artos did not like Trouble. So they need to do further preparation

First, they need an alias. That wasn't very hard. Setsuna stayed with Trista, her original name, one that was not too uncommon among the people of Artos. Luna wasn't an uncommon name either, but a name like Artemis for a male was unheard of. Finally, Luna and Trista convinced Artemis to change his name to Apollo, god of the sun, which he did very grudgingly, as his stepbrother Apollo and he were on very bad terms. (I'm referring to the cat of Mau named Apollo, of course.)

So "Apollo", Luna, and Trista continued constructing their alibi. Finally, they agreed. Luna and Apollo were married (after much protestation) and Trista was their visiting niece from Terre, a Frankish village. They were visiting because Trista wished to see what the Anglo-Saxons were like. (This was, of course, during a time of peace.) This provided a perfect disguise, because they didn't have to concern themselves about looking conspicuous or doing anything wrong. Apparently, the villagers here consulted little with townsmen, who were a bit "strange in the head" about certain things. They viewed Franks as aliens, and seeing a lady of Frankish heritage visiting her Anglo-Saxon uncle and Frankish aunt was a curiosity, but a disguise they would not easily see through.

After seven days spent searching fruitlessly, seven days of fiddling with their necklaces as they greeted people in the middle of the street, seven days of inquiring as to whether there were any "eligible young men for Trista," and enduring the odd looks they received, as Trista was a Frank and a townswoman, and clearly not worthy for any of _their_ sons, seven days of suspense and disappointment, Luna, Artemis, and Setsuna finally gave up. As they prepared to head out for the moor (or rather, moor-like landscape) to further their search, they encountered, of all people, a shepherd.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Endymion glared at the sky as the sun slowly set. That meant he would have to return to Artos again, it being time for the sheep he tended to be sheared. He often spent several weeks out in the wilds, tending to the sheep absentmindedly and talking with his friends when they came to visit (which was often). Several days ago, however, the incurably mischievous Jay had come up with, as he put it, "a prank to end all pranks." As if that wasn't bad enough, Jay had convinced Zoë and Nephi to go along with the idea, enough so that they had volunteered him to accompany the chosen victims to the weekly village dance. To his great disgust, even Kunz had gone along with it! He was now compelled to participate in their ridiculous prank, forfeiting some of his peaceful sheepherding time to come back to the village earlier than usual.

He kicked a rock to vent out his anger. The rock skidded across the grassland before coming to halt in front of one of his many placid sheep, one that looked at him with a great deal of reproach in its eyes before continuing chewing on a wad of grass. Endymion made a face. Although he didn't enjoy being shepherd (it had never been his life's ambition), it was better than the alternative.

Endymion had been found wandering the plains by a shepherd, who immediately brought him to Artos. The villagers were charitable in their own way, certain far kinder than the townsmen, who had kicked him out of the streets and beat him when he approached them. He had few memories of his life before Artos, but a couple of impressions lingered. The smell of bread baking. The sound of glass shattering. A cold bewilderment and a rainy day. And then, vague memories of townsmen throwing him out of house, townschildren pelting him with stale bread, which he eagerly gobbled up as a source of food. The impression were vague, the memories filled with pain. After he arrived in Artos, he was fed each day, if not as much as he would have liked. He was sheltered, and had somewhere warm to sleep, even if he had to work hard during the day.

Simply put, the villagers of Artos did not have the resources to feed him without something in return. As a result, he had learned how to make himself useful at a very young age. At the age of eight or nine, the shepherd who had brought him to Artos "apprenticed him," so he would have _something_ to do with his life. Not long after, the shepherd had moved to another village (having recently married a shepherdess), and Endymion became the official shepherd of Artos. Not for long, though. Endymion had ambitions in life, and those ambitions did not include staying a shepherd forever. One day, he promised himself, when he came into his majority, he and his friends would leave to explore the world.

And back to his friends again. Sighing, Endymion let out a light chuckle. Although Zoë, Kunz, Nephi, and Jay were always causing trouble, they were his closest and only friends. It was not because he was antisocial. It was because he had no status; he was only a shepherd, and before that, he had been nothing.

The first person to befriend him had been Jay. Jay Smith was a rebellious adolescent who was expected to go into the family trade of blacksmithing, but had other ideas about how he wanted his life to turn out. He didn't dislike working by the heat of the forge or anything of the sort, but he wished to do better things in his life. That didn't mean Jay was ambitious—the "better things" involved having fun. And perhaps "fun" was the word that most characterized Jay. Jay was fun-loving, laidback, and creative. He was the one that came up with all of the practical jokes, and he was the one that always got them in trouble. He told the most outrageous tales when caught, and his good humor and persuasive voice talked him out of almost any dilemma. He was of the same age as Endymion (fifteen), and both had been friends since they had met outside the forge one day. Since then, Jay and Endymion had laughed together, gotten drunk together, gotten into fights together, and gone wenching for the first time together.

Then, there was Zoë. Zoë was a peculiar case with origins not that dissimilar from Endymion, even if his life turned out much differently. His mother had been found at the outskirts of town, heavy with child, and blue from the cold. They had not been able to save her, but Zoë had been saved. A couple who both held prominent positions in the town's council and hoping to achieve higher importance had adopted him so as to appear charitable and kind in the eyes of everyone else. In truth, they could care less about Zoë, who in turn could care less about them. It didn't even bother him that they had named him Chloe, which was a girl's name and meant "Love the Ice" in ancient Terran. In fact, he enjoyed playing with his name; he preferred to be called "Zo", or "Of the Ice." Zoë had always known of Endymion, as his "parents" constantly warned him that if he didn't behave, he would "end up like Endymion." After one too many of these threats, Zoë had given up and decided to befriend Endymion and see whether his life was really that bad. It wasn't, and they had remained friends ever since.

One could not forget Kunz, of course. Kunz was reticent by nature and was the oldest, older by the Endymion only by default as no one knew _exactly_ how old Endymion was. Kunz's father had died when he was ten, and her mother was the Widow of Artos, for she was no longer quite right in the head. After her husband's death, she lost touch with the world, not recognizing her child for who he was, often wondering aloud when her husband was coming home, and recently even having fits in which she turned violent and had to be restrained. Kunz had to take care of his mother instead of vice versa from then on, resulting in a strong sense of responsibility and devotion. He was the most serious of the group, and smiles rarely showed on his forbidding demeanor. He was a recluse, also, and had not had any friends until he met Endymion and Jay (who introduced him to Zoë).

Last, but not least, there was Nephi. Nephi was probably the best off of all of them. His father was a famed astrologer, as was he, and they were consulted by all in matters of the supernatural future, which the others scorned. But although Jay, Zoë, Kunz, and Endymion didn't believe in the stars telling the future, there was still no refuting the fact that neither he nor his father had ever been wrong, though their "fortunes" were often vague. Nephi was currently courting Molly, the respectable daughter of the owner of the village store. The entire village anticipated a wedding, and it would be a good match. The daughter of the storeowner (who happened to be a widow) married to the son of the amateur astrologer and village doctor (for Nephi's dad served as doctor, dentist, and barber when the need arose) promised a lovely wedding. Nephi himself was obviously besotted with Molly, and Endymion was glad that this prank distracted Nephi from launching into (badly-written) sonnets about Molly's eyes.

Endymion sighed and got up, ready to head back to the village again. His friends had been there for him through thick and thin, but they did have an annoying habit of getting themselves (and him) in trouble. And today, he had to give up his private time in order to help them pull their immature (although sure to be amusing) prank. Apparently, an eccentric couple from town and their fussy, meddlesome, foreign niece had recently moved into town "to see the sights." As if there were any sights worth seeing in Artos. They might as well have come right out and said that they wanted to gawk at the ignorance of rural civilization. Jay and crew had taken an instant disliking to the couple, who walked the streets in their fancy clothes, and peered at everyone they met, constantly fiddling with their jewelry as if to reassure themselves that no-one had stolen them. So, Jay had developed what he called his "master plan" (he called all of his plans "master plans"), and they had chosen Endymion to execute it.

It wasn't very unique or creative on its own. It was really a typical "lead them into the wilderness" prank, with a couple of embellishments. But those embellishments were what could get Endymion and his friends in trouble. Before the night was over, Jay had promised, the snobby couple and their fussy niece would be running screaming out of Artos.

Endymion had protested of course. He had not yet seen the couple and their niece, but they surely couldn't be as bad as Jay thought they were. Then again, he always enjoyed seeing the high and mighty knocked down (it never occurred to him that in his supreme belief that he was right, he greatly resembled the high-and-mighty also).

He began herding his sheep back to the village, using his staff to gently point the sheep in the right direction. His steps grew more urgent. If he didn't hurry up, Kunz would have his head. Although Jay always came up with the ideas, Kunz was the one who was in charge of carrying them out, Zoë was always in charge of refining them, and Nephi was always the one who decided whether or not to do it. If Nephi's final decision was that it was too risky, the prank was dropped no matter what. Kunz, however, had absolute control after Nephi's affirmative.

Endymion penned his sheep, and double-checked the fence to make sure the sheep could not escape. He stepped into his little hut (perhaps the only perk of his occupation), and slipped into the ridiculous tuxedo Zoë had found somewhere and Kunz had made him wear. He tugged at his collar uncomfortably, and sighed before unbuttoning the top button for more breathing room. He ran a quick comb through his hair so he didn't look like a complete vagabond, and then he began the trek to the village inn. He got there in less than five minutes, and waited patiently for the townspeople to walk out.

When he was almost ready to give up on the entire thing, a willowy girl with dark hair and dark eyes stepped out of the inn, clad in a most fashionable gown of lavender, a ridiculously ostentatious hat perched on her head. Although the hat might have been reasonable during the day, it and her fancy dress were lost in the night.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Trista stepped outside, breathing in the cool air. She had not wanted to come to this stupid town bash, but Luna and Artemis had insisted. She disliked town life, being used to a more opulent and luxurious life and descending down as a mere townsmen was a degradation she had never before experienced. She had voiced none of this to Luna and Artemis, of course, knowing that they would merely think she was being a snob. Her eyes turned to the young man with the horses, and her lips curled into a smile. Perhaps this was worth it after all. That man was certainly handsome, and she could her feel her stomach flipping as she glanced at him. She was preparing to saunter up to him (in the exact manner her Etiquette Mistress had described to her, as a matter of fact) when Luna and Artemis interrupted her.

Luna and Artemis were dressed more elegantly than normal, at Luna's insistence. Her exact words had been, "Even if I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere with an idiot of a cat as a 'husband,' I refuse to look less than fashionable, even if it just a town bash." She was clothed in sedate navy blue muslin that blended in with the night, sprinkled with silver threads (not real silver, of course … even Luna's and Artemis's crystals could not disguise them with dresses _that_ elaborate). Her hair was tied behind her and sprinkled with a dust that made it glitter in the night. _Even though she was a fussy cow_, Trista mused, _Luna did know fashion_. Artemis, on the other hand, looked downright ridiculous in his navy blue tuxedo and with that grimace on his face that meant he was trying not to snap at Luna. His tuxedo kept flickering into a silver tunic and black breeches, as if that was the outfit he would have _liked_ to wear, but it always flickered back whenever Luna turned to gaze at him. As soon as he saw the village boy, of course, he stopped the rebellious flickering.

"My name is Endymion, and I am the village shepherd," the boy greeted without inflection in his voice. "I shall be leading you to the town bash today."

"That's nice," Luna greeted rather regally.

"Follow me, please," Endymion said rather monotonously, and turned to lead the way into the dark.

Frowning, Trista lifted her lantern a little higher, hiked up her skirts, and chased after him. "Endymion," she gasped when she caught up with him, smirking inwardly because she knew that her bosom was heaving after all of her exertion (and making small modifications to her gown to adjust to show the heaving to the greatest advantage—this crystal necklace that Luna had procured for her really was useful after all), "why are you going so quickly? Why don't you …" here, she paused to glance at him "coyly," the way her Etiquette Mistress had instructed, "slow down a bit?" The last bit was purred, and would have sounded more seductive had she not nearly tripped on her voluminous (and voluptuous) gown immediately afterwards. Using her fall to her advantage, she pouted. "See? If you had slowed down a bit, my ankle would not be twisted."

Endymion turned and glanced at her with expressionless eyes, before turning and leaving.

Trista was shocked. Back on Pluto, she had never been rejected, although she hadn't done too much flirting. Back on Pluto, boys had been honored to have her flirt with them. She felt a warm flush creep up her cheeks, and glanced furiously at Endymion's back. Well, she didn't need him. She hated it here anyways. The pang she felt whenever she saw him was a pang of disgust, she told herself. She was disgusted that she should have to _near_ these peasants. Having worked herself into a self-righteous fury, by the time Luna and Artemis came by, she was on her feet and clean again.

"Which way did he go?" Luna asked.

Trista opened her mouth, but was surprised to find that she had forgotten. No, that wasn't right, it was there, just clouded. "That way," she pointed. "I think," she added. "It seems kind of … hazy."

Artemis looked at her sharply, and then at her crystal, before placing his hand on his crystal. It emitted a faint, barely-visible glow. "The Mage-Prince or one of the Mage-Guardians is around here, having recently left."

"Why do you say that?" Trista wanted to know.

"It's a side-effect of being a Mage-Guardian. I believe either the shepherd, or someone who knows the shepherd well, wants to be rid of us, and so clouded our image of him so that we are lost. Chances are, it is completely unintentional, and the glowing of our crystals confirms it." Luna had done much research on these crystals, the topic having been her thesis when she first applied for an ambassadorial position to the moon. Her knowledge and wisdom had so please the Queen, that now she held a powerful advisorial position, and was one of the Queen's most trusted friends.

"Can we find the shepherd again?" Trista wanted to know.

"I imagine not," Artemis said rather dryly. "I, being a chronic prankster in my youth, recognize the signs. The shepherd was sent to lead us, but the woods are surely not the way to the village bash. I imagine he and his friends cooked up a plot to humiliate and lose us, and they are now boasting to their girlfriends over a cup of ale at the bash. When questioned, the shepherd will probably mutter something about never receiving the summons … how else have we missed such magical potential? He must have been out grazing the sheep, and only sheer luck brought him back before we left."

"So to find him, we have to find the village bash," Trista wrinkled her brow at the thought of having to go to this "bash" at all.

"Correct," Luna said crisply. "More importantly, do we know where we are?"

"No," Artemis grinned, "but I bet this crystal can help us. Just follow whatever direction it grows brighter in."

That was easier said than done. Luna, Artemis, and Trista spent several minutes arguing over the best path at one point. Luckily, they hadn't been lead very far into the woods, and easily escaped; only (most fortunately) to find themselves right in front of the bash, the shepherd on the opposite side of the clearing the villagers were dancing in. All three clutched their crystals simultaneously, and saw the bored shepherd surrounded by a rather faint glow.

They grinned. One down. Four to go.

Mercury, Venus, arth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Jay Smith grinned at Endymion (who could not see him) from behind a barrel, and prepared to pour some of his ale down Endymion's shirt. He was startled by Kunz's nudge, and turned to see what the matter was. Endymion's "lost" charges weren't so lost, after all.

"Endy," he hissed.

"Hmm?" Endymion asked, pausing in the middle of his flirting.

Seizing his moment, Jay dumped his ale on Endymion. "I thought you said you lost them," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Well, they're here."

"What? Impossible," Endymion frowned. "Whenever I lose someone, they _stay_ lost till morning."

"Well, if that's not them, then _I'm_ King Arthur," Kunz hissed.

"If they can find their way out of the woods," Zoë murmured, "they'll deduce that you intentionally led them astray in no time at all."

"," Endymion cursed. "I _don't_ need any more trouble with the Village Elders right now."

"Get Nephi," Kunz said immediately. "He should know about this."

"Who knows where he is off with Molly," Jay objected. "Either way, I'm not fetching him. Last time I went after him, I found he and Molly in an unmentionable position. Although the view of _her_ was rather nice, I have no great desire to see him sans pants again."

"Sans?" Zoë raised an eyebrow. "That's Frankish."

"Well," Jay smirked, "I've never been averse to hanging around a pretty lass, even if she _is_ a Frank. I know lots of words now. For example, 'aisheteru' means I love you."

"I think she has you fooled," Zoë (the scholar of the group) objected. "I love you in Frankish is 'Je t'aime,' and whatever 'aisheteru' is, it's certainly _not_-"

"I don't care," Kunz said. "But Jay, since you're such a ladies' man, _you_ are going to go over there and keep the girl diverted. Zoë, _you_ go fetch Nephi. Endymion, you go up to the nobles and apologize. Mention something about striding too quickly and not realizing that they weren't behind you, or something silly like that."

"They won't believe me," Endymion objected.

"I know," Kunz said grimly, "but I figure if you and Jay can distract them long enough for us _all_ to assemble and meet them, we can convince them to forget about this little incident."

"What?" Endymion practically screeched. "What kind of plan is that?"

"The only one we have in mind," Kunz replied. "Besides. What's the worst that could happen? We get kicked out? We've been planning to leave this dump for a while now, anyways."

While Kunz and Endymion debated **cough**argued**cough** about the finer points of their plan and Zoë nervously prepared to search for Nephi among the many haystacks ripe for the use of trysting lovers, and Jay nervously approached the direction of the Frankish lady, praying that his life be spared, Luna and Artemis were making a discovery of their own.

"The crystal is glowing more intensely when Jay approaches. Why is that?" Setsuna frowned. For this moment, she was the Mage-Princess of Pluto asking a serious question, no longer young Trista of the kingdom of the Franks.

"He didn't elicit a reaction before," Luna frowned.

"He must be a Mage-Guardian," Artemis said finally, recalling some bits of ancient texts he had peered through as a child.

"What does that mean?" Setsuna wanted to know.

"He's not exactly a Mage-Royal … more like a Mage-Knight, really. He exists to protect the Mage-Prince, because Earth is such a violently and magically unstable planet. I imagine that he only exhibits magical powers when he's around his friend, the Mage-Prince. Now that Endymion is back from shepherding, all of the Mage-Guardians should elicit equal reactions."

"Thank goodness we didn't leave yet," Luna sighed. "That would have been disastrous."

"Well, that's _two_ established Mage-Royals," Artemis noted.

"How many are left again?" Setsuna inquired.

"Three."

Mercury, Venus, ath, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

"I am _not_ approaching them alone," Endymion said, frowning at Kunz.

"And _I_ am not going with you. _I_ need to see to it that Zoë and Nephi-"

But it was too late. Endymion was _dragging_ Kunz over to the nobles. As they got closer and closer, however, Endymion began to pay more attention to the peculiar antics of Jay, who had halted (more like frozen in his tracks) and was having an apparently intense conversation with the man.

"What in the world is Jay doing?" Endymion began, but by then, both he and Kunz had entered the domain of the fragment of Silver Crystal. Symbols appeared on both his forehead and Kunz, symbols that the two did not see, of course, as they were too busy staring at the symbol on Jay's forehead (and what a funny-looking symbol it was).

"You didn't have that on your forehead earlier, did you?"

"Ah," the man said, "as I was explaining to Jadeite here-"

"Who's Jadeite?" Kunz asked Endymion.

"-you are the Mage-Prince, Chiba Mamoru, and you are the Mage-Guardian, Maeda Kunzite."

Both stared blankly at him.

Before there could be any more time for confusion, Frankish lady coughed. "The crystal's glow is increasing in intensity," she said rather distantly. "I imagine that as the trend seems to be that the Mage-Guardians are drawn towards the Mage-Prince, of the two approaching, one or both would be your friend."

Endymion, no, Chiba Mamoru turned to see his friends Zoë and Nephi. "Yes, they are both friends of mine," he frowned. "What are you talking about? Mage-Prince? Mage-Guardian? And why am I this Chiba Mamoru again?" (For all he knew, that could be his real name. After all, he had been found wandering, sans identity, as Jadeite would put it.)

"All will be explained," the Frankish lady, who he was beginning to suspect was not in the least Frankish, said serenely.

"Well," the elder lady said with some finality. "That will be all of them, no?"

"It is," the man confirmed.

"Good."

Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

"Queen Serenity. We have found the Mage-Princess of Pluto and the Mage-Prince and Mage-Guardians of Earth," Artemis reported.

"Good," the Queen said. "Now, your instructions are as such. Travel to Mars, and collect the mage-royalty of that planet before returning to the moon."

"But why?" Luna asked.

"Don't question my orders, Luna. All shall be revealed in time. Just do as I say," Queen Serenity said patiently.

"Yes, my Queen," Luna said, biting back a sharp retort. She purposely ignored the snickers of the young men behind her, who were all under the misconception that they had been told "All shall be revealed in time" too many times and were happy to see her put in her place.

"Next stop, Mars."

To be continued …


	4. Unrevised

A/N: I'm going to twist the plot. Let's say that this takes place slightly after Pangaea. I've always been disturbed by the fact that the Silver Millennium would have ended around 1000, during which humans were alive, and the timeline wasn't exactly compatible. Saying it took place millions (??) of years ago sounds right … so forgive me. And ignore the incompatibleness of the timeline … just pretend, okay? Use your imagination.  
  
Oh, and for the ages …  
  
Endymion=15  
  
Kunz = 15  
  
Zoë=14  
  
Nephi=14  
  
Jay=14  
  
Trista=14  
  
Alex=13  
  
Michelle=13  
  
Heather=11  
  
Lita=12  
  
Raye=12  
  
Amy=12  
  
Mina-12  
  
Serenity (the younger)=10  
  
Serenity (the elder)=who knows? Who has the guts to ask?  
  
Luna=looks 22, actually 33 in Mau time.  
  
Artemis=looks 24, actually 36 in Mau time.  
  
  
  
PROLOGUE  
  
  
  
Everyone knows that mage-royalty is gifted with talents beyond imagination, and are easy to distinguish…  
  
Yeah, right! Luna and Artemis, the two Lunar Cats of the planet Mau, were charged with the task of finding the mage-royalty of each planet. Now, this isn't as easy as it sounds. Just because someone is mage-royalty does not necessarily mean that they are royalty. Are you confused? Then let me explain.  
  
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto  
  
Long, long ago, when the Divine Beings (the Gods and Goddesses) roamed the cosmos, many of them were not particular with their mates. Their children and descendants numbered throughout the planets, and before long, the planets were crowded with Divine Descendants. Not long after, the Divine Beings faded away, and no longer lived among mortals.  
  
Then, evil began attacking the universe. To protect their children, the Divine Beings (now all in the Land of the Dead) decreed that each time evil threatened the universe; one of each of their children would become mage-royalty, and help defend the galaxy.  
  
However, they did not take into consideration the fact that the human race would slowly erode with corruption, and that soon, the individual human mind was no longer cared about.  
  
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto  
  
Luna grumbled. "As much as I admire Queen Serenity, I still don't understand all the secrecy. Why couldn't she have told us at the Palace? But no … she has to send us to Pluto … the farthest, coldest planet there is! 'Wait,' she says. 'I'll give you instructions' she says. Well, we've been waiting for two hours!"  
  
Artemis rolled his eyes. "Stop grumbling, Luna. Queen Serenity will tell us what she wants in her own time."  
  
"In her own time. That's what I'm afraid of. If she had her way, she probably wouldn't tell us for a whole millennia because she's so busy, she forgot." Luna was about to say more, when a sound startled her, and a hologram of Queen Serenity appeared.  
  
"So, how are you, Luna?" Queen Serenity asked pleasantly.  
  
Luna looked as if she were caught with her pants down. "Umm … Queen Serenity," she stammered. "How has your day been?"  
  
Queen Serenity chuckled. "Now that I've heard a cat insult me, my day is complete."  
  
Luna shook with nervousness. "I apologize."  
  
Queen Serenity's face grew serious. "It is classified information that Queen Metallia of the Dark Kingdom has begun planning to attack the Silver Alliance. Her first target shall be Earth, the one planet in the Sol System that is not part of the Silver Alliance."  
  
"We know this," Luna said impatiently. "And?"  
  
Queen Serenity frowned. "Patience is a virtue … admittedly one that I don't have either, but it is still something you should consider."  
  
"Yes, Queen Serenity," Luna said meekly.  
  
"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted … ~glare~ … I'm afraid that Queen Metallia is an evil that I cannot defeat. So I have set this task upon you. You are charged with the task of finding the mage- royalty of each planet."  
  
"But that's only a myth!" Artemis protested, the only word he had said so far.  
  
Queen Serenity shook her head. "Contrary to common belief, Mage- royalty is not a myth, and now that the situation has grown urgent, we must find them."  
  
"We are at your service," Luna said, bowing the best she could on her four legs.  
  
"We are ready to accept our mission," Artemis said, copying Luna.  
  
"For the task set before you, you must be able to accomplish things you may not do in your cat-form. Therefore, using the Imperial Silver Crystal, I grant you the ability to shift between cat-form and human-form whenever you wish."  
  
"Thank you, Queen Serenity," Luna and Artemis said.  
  
Queen Serenity smiled sadly at her two feline advisors-in-training. "Your first task is to seek the Mage-princess of Pluto. You shall receive further instructions then."  
  
"But how?" Artemis asked, baffled.  
  
Queen Serenity smiled at the two of them. "When you see her, you will know." With that, the hologram shimmered and disappeared.  
  
There was a silence. Artemis spoke first. "So … what do we do now?"  
  
  
  
CHAPTER ONE – MEIOH SETSUNA  
  
  
  
Day arrived as silently as the night. The sun was a mere speck in the sky, one of the many sprinklings of stars in the night-like sky. There was no difference between day and night on Pluto, and the only way you could tell was by observing its people.  
  
It was market day, and many odd figures were about. Everyone was dressed in warm woolen cloaks, for even summer in Pluto has below-zero temperatures. In fact, most people preferred to inhabit Charon, Pluto's moon, because it was more comfortably suited, being the first place settlers had attempted and succeeded to civilize.  
  
The most conspicuous and suspicious characters were a young woman and a young man. Instead of being dressed warmly, they were in loose-fitting clothes that barely kept any heat in.  
  
But all this was unnoticed to young Princess Trista Susan Hadei. As Crown Princess of Pluto, she was currently in etiquette class, and was bored to death, not at all interested in learning the polite way to accept flowers from a married man or how to politely reject a marriage proposal.  
  
"Princess? Are you listening, Princess?" The voice of her tutor intruded on her thoughts.  
  
"Of course I'm listening, Etiquette Mistress," Princess Trista said sweetly. "You were just talking about how to reject a marriage proposal."  
  
"And what did I say?" Etiquette Mistress asked, narrowing her beady eyes.  
  
"Why that a lot of fainting and weeping was involved, and how I must practice getting just the right expression on my face," Princess Trista answered sweetly, and held her breath.  
  
Etiquette Mistress stared at the Princess for a while, before nodding. "It seems that I have taught you well, Princess. You may have a break."  
  
"Thank you, Etiquette Mistress," Princess Trista said humbly, before turning away to hide her laughter. She? A good teacher? As if! Etiquette class is such a breeze. The answer to everything is a lot of excessive fainting and unnecessary weeping, and much vanity excused by calling it practicing expressions. So Princess Trista smugly entered the Temple of Hades.  
  
Now, the Temple of Hades was available to everyone, from peasants to nobility, and Princess Trista was used to acting mysterious and bestowing meaningless smiles upon her subjects. She was aware of how her long green- black hair swept around her, and how her stunning maroon eyes looked. She knew perfectly well that her long black cloak done in the latest style was eye-catching, and she was proud of it.  
  
As Princess Trista entered the Temple of Hades, she was perfectly prepared to put on her showdog face and become the perfect princess her mother wanted her to be. But because today was market day, only two people were found in the Temple of Hades.  
  
Princess Trista Susan Hadei put on a serious frown. These two could not have been natives … they had on simple clothes that would have frozen them had they not sought sanctuary in the Temple of Hades. They could not have been tourists … tourists were not allowed in the City of Anubis any longer. They were a strange pair indeed.  
  
"Are you from around here?" she inquired in her perfect princess voice as was inquired of her. As Crown Princess of Pluto, she was required to greet all that were in the Temple of Hades each time she visited it.  
  
The girl with long black tresses, wearing a yellow sundress turned around, and gasped. "No, I'm afraid not, my lady," she said politely. "May I inquire what your name is?"  
  
Princess Trista was surprised. Everyone knew who she was. "I am Trista Susan Hadei, Crown Princess of Pluto," she said proudly.  
  
The man with long white hair did not look old, surprisingly. He looked young, and his voice was rich and vibrant, not one of an old one. "We have been looking for you."  
  
"Pardon?"  
  
"You are Meioh Setsuna, the Mage-Princess of Pluto."  
  
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
"We have done as you bid, Queen Serenity. Shall we take the Mage-Princess to the Moon first?"  
  
"No, I'm afraid we don't have time, Luna."  
  
"Is something wrong?"  
  
"Yes, Artemis. Queen Metallia is planning her attack on Earth right away. I have already arranged for you to be transported to Earth. You must find the Mage-Prince of Earth, and his four Mage-Protectors."  
  
"Yes, Queen Serenity. We are on our way."  
  
  
  
CHAPTER TWO – CHIBA MAMORU, HI JADEITE, MIZU ZOISITE, AI KUNZITE, KI NEPHRITE  
  
  
  
Luna, Artemis, and the newly named Meioh Setsuna landed on Earth with a thud. All three were used to cushy rockets and specially aimed teleports, so none enjoyed the jarring impact of the floor after stepping out of the portal, which had incidentally appeared five feet in the air, resulting in a fall to the ground. Setsuna was the first to recover, having being trained in appearing regal under the worst of circumstances.  
  
She glanced around her, and took in the surroundings. There were gently rolling plains, sparsely located trees, and no sign of civilization for miles around other than the faint outline of something dark in the distance. "I wish I had a farviewer," she remarked.  
  
"We're not here to sightsee," an irritated Artemis grumbled, grumpy because of being the landing dock of Luna and Setsuna. He scowled at those two. "You two need to lose weight. Do you have any idea how much it hurt when you two plopped on me?"  
  
Luna loftily ignored Artemis, and asked, "What do you need a farviewer for?"  
  
"If I could only see what that is in the distance," Setsuna said conversationally, "and if it's a castle, I could be able to determine where we were. Being a princess means learning a lot of trivial information, including knowing all of the castles and palaces of the Silver Alliance on sight. It's supposed to help us practice when we have to learn the social situation of every noble in the Silver Alliance, and such."  
  
Artemis glared at being annoyed. Suddenly, he sharp green eyes (I don't care if they're not green) caught sight of something. "Is that a person over that?" he asked. "I think he's herding cows."  
  
"What are you waiting for?" Luna asked impatiently. "Let's go!"  
  
As they ran along, Artemis suddenly thought of something. "But Earth isn't a part of the Silver Alliance," he said, panting as he ran along. "How would you recognize the castle? All we know about Earth, and all that we care to know, is that the people of Earth had descended into savagery after being abandoned by Gaiea, and that recently the land which they called Pangaea has broken up."  
  
Setsuna didn't even bat an eyelash. "We of Pluto, the smallest planet, believe that no planet, asteroid, comet, star, or moon is to insignificant to overlook, and we are careful that the royalty learns all of importance about those planets." She made a face. "Trust me, I would have much rather learned practical things."  
  
Luna suddenly had a thought. "Have magical powers been discovered about you?"  
  
Setsuna shook her head. "Everyone is tested at age 5, regardless of rank, unless they dwell out in the uncivilized wilds of Pluto. Those out there rarely come back, so they aren't tested. I was found negative, which was disappointing to my mother. She had hoped for a son so that the legacy of Hadei could continue, since she could no longer have children. Unfortunately, only I was born, and since I didn't even have magic, all that I could hope for was marriage to kind man who is a good king so a new dynasty could begin. Rumor has it that my mom threatened to kill herself because she had been the one to solely end the long dynasty of Hadei.  
  
"If my dad were still alive, he would have taken a mistress, and made the bastard son the Crown Prince of Pluto, but he died due to an assassination attempt."  
  
"Princess!" Luna said shocked. "Watch your language."  
  
Setsuna halted, momentarily surprised. "Oh yes," she said, suddenly remembering. "You Lunarians think that bastard is a bad word, don't you? All right, illegitimate son. I apologize for offending you. I don't know what came over me. If that had happened at home, Intergalactic Etiquette Mistress would have my head."  
  
As they began running toward the human form again, Artemis asked, "Why didn't your mother just take a Royal Consort and have another child?"  
  
Setsuna shook her head. "You don't understand. My mother is duty- bound to her husband once she marries him. Although he is dead, and she is a widow, the only reason she wasn't buried in his crypt with him was because she was with me, and I was the Royal Heiress to the throne. Plus, she was only Queen by marriage, and on Pluto, when your husband dies; your title that you gained from him is stripped from you. The only reason she remained Queen was because she had to bring me up to be Crown Princess of Pluto."  
  
"Then what will Pluto do now that there is no Crown Princess?" Artemis asked, but what the answer would have been, no one would know, for they had caught up with the cowherd.  
  
The cowherd looked around him with surprise. "Top o' the morn to you," he said in greeting.  
  
Setsuna was the one who responded. "Top o' the morn to you, too. We're lost an' weary travelers, seekin' a nearby village for rest. Wouldya know of 'un?" She said all of this in a very passable Celtic accent (so what if the Celts weren't alive back then?) and with a bright smile.  
  
"'Round the next 'ill and pass the twisted tree will bring ye there," the cowherd said, tipping his hat.  
  
"Thank ye dearly," Setsuna said pleasantly, and strode toward the direction the shepherd had pointed.  
  
"Where did you learn that?" Luna asked, impressed.  
  
"It's a skill I picked up," Setsuna shrugged. "I've got an ear for languages, but I specialize in being able to speak dialects almost fluently after I hear a couple of words spoken in them."  
  
Artemis was about to open his mouth and ask another question, but they were cut off when they arrived at the village.  
  
"All right," Luna took order. "First order of business is to find out where exactly we are."  
  
That was easy. A few inquirings made it known that they had encountered the small village of Darville, named after King Darien the 27th of Tarragona, the title of the new land. After a couple of questions, they had a basic idea of where they were. Now, they were supposed to find five mage-princes … FIVE! The only good news was that they would ~probably~ be together.  
  
So Luna, Artemis, and Setsuna laid out a plan. They would stay at an inn that night, and scout the village for possibilities and for a map. If the five mage-royalty weren't here, they would search the surrounding villages methodically in the shortest way possible. The five mage-royalty, who they knew in advance would all be mage-princes, should be around where Queen Serenity had sent them, because Queen-Serenity could half-sense them and thus send them in the right direction.  
  
Well, seeing as Darville was one of the larger villages, and it probably only had maybe 90-100 people, the task didn't ~seem~ too hard … the key word being seem.  
  
Well, to recognize a mage-prince, they had to see the person. When you walk around peering at everybody, you look very suspicious, and the people of Darville didn't really like suspicious people.  
  
First, they need an alias. That wasn't too hard. Setsuna stayed with Trista, her original name. Luna wasn't too uncommon, but a man named Artemis was. Finally, Luna and Trista convinced Artemis to change his name to Apollo, god of the sun, which he did very grudgingly, as his stepbrother Apollo and he were on very bad terms. (I'm referring to the cat of Mau named Apollo, of course.)  
  
So "Apollo", Luna, and Trista continued making up their alibi. Finally, they agreed. Luna and Apollo were married (after much protesting) and Trista was Luna's niece, who was visiting from Terre. They were looking around because Trista wished to see what the "world was like" and they were humoring her. This provided a perfect disguise, because they didn't have to concern themselves about looking conspicuous or doing anything wrong. Apparently, the villagers here consulted little with townsmen, who were a bit "strange in the head" about certain things.  
  
Of course, they realized that their search was a fruitless one from the start. What were they supposed to do? They had no leads to go on whatsoever. They spent 3 days there before giving up. Finally, they gathered their stuff, and prepared to move on to the next village. As they took their stuff with them, they encountered a shepherd.  
  
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
Endymion shook his head. What was he supposed to do? His friends Zoë, Kunz, Nephi, and Jay had gone out and caused trouble again. Whoever decided to bless him, a simple shepherd, with the most annoying and troublemaking friends definitely could not tell a blessing from a curse. He was ready to scream from frustration.  
  
He kicked a rock to vent out his anger. The rock skidded across the empty plains before coming to halt in front of one of his many placid sheep, which looked at him with reproach, before continuing chewing on the wad of grass. Endymion had never enjoyed being a shepherd … it had kind of been forced upon him.  
  
See, Endymion had no memory of his life before he was 6. A shepherd had found him wandering around, and he brought him to Darville. The villagers brought him up (grudgingly giving him spare food) and he had long learned that unless you had some sort of trade or helped about, grudgingly given food was scarce, and almost always stale and such.  
  
It wasn't that the people of Darville didn't have good hearts … they just didn't have enough resources to feed him. So at a young age, he had done odd jobs all over. Later, he accepted the job of being the shepherd, because it was the most rewarding job. However, he was 15, and he was getting restless. He planned on going out and seeing the world one day with his friends.  
  
Although Zoë, Kunz, Nephi, and Jay were always causing trouble, they were his closest … and only friends. It wasn't that he was mean, though the others did say he was stiff and cold. It was because he had no status … he was only a shepherd, and before that, he had been nothing.  
  
The first person had befriended him was Jay. Jay Smith was a rebellious adolescent who ~definitely~ did not want to go into the family trade and be a blacksmith when he grew up. It wasn't that he didn't like the forge or anything … he just wanted to do better. Of course, Jay didn't mean ambition … he just wanted to have more fun. That was Jay. Jay was fun-loving, and he was creative, being the one that came up with all of the practical jokes. He was 15, too, and he had met Endymion when they were both 10. He would never forget the day he had gone to the smithy wondering if he could do odd jobs there in exchange for food and a place to stay, and made his first friend.  
  
Then, he had met Zoë. Zoë was a … a womanizer. His father had been a beggar, and his mother had been a tavern dancer. He had been abandoned at Darville at birth, and was raised by a forever-arguing couple that only kept him because they looked good. They were, in fact, both members of the council, and they believed that by committing this act of charity, they would earn more support. They did, as a matter of fact, and that was the only reason they kept Zoë. Zoë's parents didn't care for him, but he didn't really care. It didn't even bother him that they had named him Zoë, which was a girl's name and meant "Love the Ice" in ancient Terran. In fact, he enjoyed playing with his name … he called himself "Of the Ice." Zoë had always known Endymion, of course, but he only became friends with him when Jay introduced them.  
  
There was Kunz, of course. Kunz was cold, and was the oldest, older by the Endymion only by default, since no one knew ~exactly~ how old either Endymion or Zoë were. Zoë was the shortest, however, and he accepted being treated as the youngest. Kunz's father had died, and her mother was the Widow of Darville. After her husband's death, she lost touch with the world. Kunz grew up having to take care of his mother, doing as best he could to get along. A couple of months ago, his mother had finally died. He had hidden his grief for although his mother no longer recognized him; he had still loved her. He had met Endymion when Endymion had gone to his house on an errand, and they had become close friends ever since.  
  
Last, but not least, there was Nephi. Nephi was probably the best off of all of them. His father was a famed astrologer, as was he, and they were consulted by all in matters of the supernatural future, which the others scorned. But although Jay, Zoë, Kunz, and Endymion didn't believe in the stars telling the future, there was still no refuting the fact that neither he nor his father had ever been wrong, 'though their "fortunes" were often vague. He had become friends with Endymion when he had delivered a message from a birthing lady … Nephi's dad was also the village doctor.  
  
Endymion sighed. His friends had gotten him into trouble again … sort of. Apparently, there were three new people in town. Apollo and Luna were husband and wife, and they had been obliged to take along their niece, Trista. They were nobility of some type, and since all villagers … disliked would be word … nobility, Nephi, Kunz, Zoë, and Jay were planning on pulling a prank … a large one.  
  
They were going to invite the three to the village gathering that night. Then, as everyone was dancing, they were going to dump water on the three, and then … just humiliate them for the whole rest of the gathering.  
  
Endymion had protested of course. He hadn't even gotten a glimpse at the new villagers, because he had been busy searching for a lost lamb, but he was pretty sure they couldn't be ~that~ snobby. However, he admitted, he would have liked to see the rich get off their high horses once in a while.  
  
He sighed. They had gotten him hook, line, and sinker. He was going to go along with the prank. He looked at the sun as its last rays reached the sky. Time for the village gathering … which meant time for the prank, and inevitably, the chastising, punitive chores, and being close to shunned for a couple of days for disgracing the village.  
  
He made a face. If he didn't hurry up, Kunz would have his head. Although Jay always came up with the ideas, Kunz was the one who was in charge of carrying them out, Zoë was always in charge of refining them, and Nephi was always the one who decided whether or not to do it.  
  
As he walked up, grudgingly, to the village, he made ready. He was the one to escort the three of nobility to the village gathering, since he was the one most familiar with the less rickety ways (by horse.)  
  
But things were not to go as he expected. As Endymion dressed up in the ridiculous tuxedo Nephi had insisted he wear, he prepared the roses Kunz had made him bring, and stepped out the door. He led the three horses to the house that the three had rented, and waited patiently outside.  
  
Soon, a young girl with flowing green-black hair probably only one year younger than him stepped outside.  
  
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
Trista stepped outside, breathing in the cool air. Her eyes turned to the young man with the horses, and she gasped. Not only was he incredibly handsome with his raven black hair and cobalt eyes, and not only did she feel the jerking of her heart that meant she was in love, she also recognized him. So this was the Mage-Prince of Earth. At least, this was Chiba Mamoru, First Mage-Prince of Earth.  
  
"Luna. Artemis," she hissed out of the corner of her mouth. "You have to see this."  
  
Luna and Artemis stepped out, rather elegantly dressed at the insistence of Luna, and they stared at Endymion in shock. Luna recovered her speech first. She flowed over, and nodded at Endymion. "Hello, Chiba Mamoru, First Mage-Prince of Earth. It is nice to meet you."  
  
Endymion stared at her in confusion. "I'm sorry. My name is Endymion. I'm a simple shepherd."  
  
Artemis looked him in the face. "No matter what name you had before, you are now christened Chiba Mamoru. You are the First Mage-Prince of Earth, and your task is to search for the other Mage-Princes with us."  
  
Out of instinct, and a particular nagging feeling, Endymion immediately bowed his head. "I accept the title and the obligations along with it."  
  
"So be it," Luna said suddenly. "We have found Mage-Princess Meioh Setsuna of Pluto and First Mage-Prince Chiba Mamoru of Earth."  
  
And the newly christened Mamoru snapped out of his daze.  
  
"Of course, you'll keep the name Endymion for now," Trista reassured him. "Just to keep you inconspicuous." She looked into his eyes, but unable to meet his intense gaze, fluttered her eyelashes away, her stomach doing butterflies as she attempted to be as coy as possible. She had fallen for this man, and she would aim to snare him.  
  
Mercury, Venus, arth, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
Endymion and Trista were discussing intense philosophical issues and such when they reached the village gathering. Jay was the first to notice their familiarity and shook his head. If Endymion got it into his head that he loved this Lady, he would have trouble on his hands. He should have known better than to fall for a Lady of such high rank.  
  
Jay walked over to Endymion, and was about to give him a piece of his mind, when Luna glanced at him. Her eyes locked with his, and her lips curved into a smile. "Greetings, Mage-Prince of Earth."  
  
Jay froze into place. "Umm. Endymion," he said nervously. "What do you do when a crazy noble stares at you and says you're royalty? You're the expert on etiquette."  
  
Endymion smiled at Jay. "By announcing that you think she's crazy, you just broke all of the rules of propriety."  
  
"Oops," Jay said, not sounding chagrined at all. He turned to Luna. "I think you're mistaken, Lady Luna. I am not … whatever you said I was. I am Jay Smith."  
  
Luna shook her head. "No matter what you name you held before, you are now Hi Jadeite, Third Mage-Prince of Earth."  
  
Jay pursed his lips. "Huh?"  
  
Endymion smiled at his friend. "I'll explain. Apparently …" and he began the tedious matter of explaining to Jay exactly what was going on.  
  
Mercury, Venus, ath, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
Kunz waited impatiently for Jay to give the signal. It never came. Finally, he gave up. Although he hadn't liked the idea to begin with, it was his devout theory that once you started something, you ought to finish it. He did not like leaving things hanging. Unfortunately, Jay was the exact opposite.  
  
"Did Jay give the signal yet?" Zoë's voice asked behind him.  
  
He made a face. "I'm going to go over and ask him exactly what's going on. It's not like him to abandon such a good prank like this."  
  
He shook his head as he walked over to where Jay was supposed to be … and found no one. He looked around for Lady Luna, Lord Apollo, and Lady Trista, and found Endymion and Jay talking beside them. He sighed. If you left those two alone, they'd forget everything.  
  
He walked up to them and cleared his throat. "Remember our previous engagement?" he asked tersely.  
  
Lord Apollo took one look at him, and smiled. "So you're the Second Mage-Prince of Earth."  
  
"Pardon?" Kunz asked. "What are you talking about?"  
  
Luna turned back and rolled her eyes. "You are Ai Kunzite, Second Mage-Prince of Earth. Umm … have Trista explain it to you." Then, she began muttering. "Stupid Terran. Nobody knows the legend of mage-royalty anymore."  
  
Mercury, Venus, th, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
Zoë waited … and waited … and waited … and finally screamed in frustration. He was not waiting anymore. He was not a patient person. Who cared about the prank? If his friends were in trouble … he discarded that thought immediately. He was an analyzer, a womanizer, and all, but he was definitely not a daydreamer. As if anything interesting would happen around here!  
  
He stalked towards where he could see the flicker of the tail of the horse, determined to demand what exactly was going on. When he got there, even his normally ice-cool demeanor was startled.  
  
Jay and Endymion were conversing intently, and Kunz and Lady Trista were talking about some subject or another. Zoë made a face, and walked over. He waited impatiently until Jay, Endymion, and Kunz noticed him.  
  
"Hello?" he said impatiently. "I thought we were going to go ask the cute girls together. And I thought we were going to eat together."  
  
Lord Apollo rode up behind him. He smiled crookedly. "We have been looking for you."  
  
"Hmm?" Zoë asked, startled.  
  
"You are Mizu Zoisite, Fifth Mage-Prince of Earth," Apollo explained gently. "I am Artemis, and that is Luna. We are advisors to Queen Serenity, and you are who we have been instructed to find."  
  
"But there's no such thing as mage-royalty," Zoë objected.  
  
"Here we go again," Luna muttered.  
  
Mercury, Venus, t, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
Nephi waited with inhuman patience. He waited for his friends to give the signal. He waited as his stomach growled, as pretty lasses eyed him, and as the dancing began to wind down. When the sun began to rise, and everyone began to leave, only then did he leave from his former position. No matter how much patience he had, it was time to leave, and as they had agreed, the prank was null.  
  
He stood up, straightened his clothes, and got ready to head back to his house. On his way back, though, he encountered Endymion, Zoë, Kunz, Jay, Luna, Trista, and Apollo, all on horses, and ready to leave.  
  
"Where are you going?" Nephi asked calmly. His eyes narrowed at his friends. "I have been waiting for you to meet at the appointed place for over 10 hours … where were you?"  
  
Zoë, Kunz, Jay, and Endymion gulped. Nephi was calm and predictable, but when you made him mad, you would always regret it.  
  
Trista pulled up next to Nephi. "We have been waiting for you, Fourth Mage-Prince Ki Nephrite of Earth," she said simply. "It is time for us to leave."  
  
Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
"Queen Serenity. We have found the Mage-Princess of Pluto and the five Mage-Princes of Earth," Artemis reported.  
  
"Good," the Queen said. "Now, your instructions are as such. Travel to Mars, and collect the mage-royalty of that planet before returning to the moon."  
  
"But why?" Luna asked.  
  
"Don't question my orders, Luna. All shall be revealed in time. Just do as I say," Queen Serenity said patiently. She paused, before adding. "Oh, and Luna? Your mother Selene wants you to know that Artemis's father Sol used to be her beau, and if you kill him, scratch him, or hurt him in any way, she'll make sure your father, Zeus, knows about it. And Artemis? According to your mom, Hecate, Sol wants to arrange a marriage between you and Luna, so you're supposed to stop teasing her."  
  
This was all delivered in the same even tone, but Luna's face had turned from chagrined to outrage, while Artemis's face turned from teasing to shocked. Setsuna, Mamoru, Jadeite, Kunzite, Nephrite, and Zoisite all prudently chose not to say anything when Luna and Artemis turned to glare at them.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER THREE – HINO REI  
  
  
  
Raye swept the floors hurriedly, doing the best she could not to linger in front of the warm fire. She cast it a longing gaze, before busying herself again. Suddenly, whispers of "He's coming" came down the narrow hallway as servant after servant anxiously scrubbed.  
  
Raye closed her eyes and hurried to do the best she could so she was in one of the rooms by the time he came. Luckily for her, she made it just in time. She anxiously began sweeping the entire room. She heard murmurs as frightened servants answered questions The Master put to them as best they could. Finally, when she was certain he was no longer there, she swept out of the room she had been dawdling in.  
  
To her horror, she found that she had run right into The Master. She apologized over and over. "I'm sorry. Oh, I'm so sorry," she repeated over and over, as meekly and humbly as she could.  
  
It was not enough. The Master's hand snapped her chin up, and she was forced to look into his eyes. The Master's coal-black eyes made him seem demonic, and his dark red hair only gave him the look of the devil. Raye did her best to suppress her shiver, but it did not go unnoticed by him. Raye gulped.  
  
"What is your name, slave," The Master demanded.  
  
That was enough to spark Raye's anger. "My name is Raye, and I am not a slave," she said, gritting her teeth so her anger wouldn't show. The Master noticed.  
  
"A feisty one, eh," he said in a low voice. "You know," he said thoughtfully. "You're kind of good-looking." Raye's stomach clenched. "Why don't you come to my room tonight, and I'll see what I can do to curb that temper, hmm?"  
  
Raye gulped, and said nothing.  
  
"You will come, won't you?" The Master continued in his oily voice, his left hand placing itself on her shoulder. "Won't you?" The last part was said menacingly, as his hand wandered down and placed it on her breast to emphasize what he meant. "If you won't come," he continued. "I'll have you beaten in the hall in front of everyone instead of in my room, so you better come."  
  
So saying, he walked off, leaving Raye shaken. Raye knew what he meant. When The Master called a servant to his room, he always whipped her with his barbed whip, and then took her at his leisure, taking pleasure in her pain. When The Master whipped her in front of everyone, it involved whipping the servant … while the servant was naked. Then, the Master would take the servant in front of everyone. It was this kind of horror that drove all of the servants to being as industrious as they could.  
  
Raye shivered. She had always lived this life. Her mother had died when she was but three, and her older sister went into service at The Master's. Two years ago, her older sister had died mysteriously, so Raye had gone into service as a servant at The Master's, and it was then that she learned how her sister had died.  
  
The Master only employed female servants for his own perversions, and once you went into his service, it was impossible to get out. Her own sister had attempted to quit, but had not been allowed to. When she tried to run away, she was killed … "mysteriously." The local authorities never interfered with The Master, because he was too powerful, and he never bothered them.  
  
Raye's face set into one of grim determination. She was not going to The Master's room that night. She was going to run away. She didn't care if she died in the process, as long as she got away from this dreadful place.  
  
Raye's face was determined. She did not see the sorrowful look that The Master's bodyguard, Chad, sent her. He had seen that look before, and it indicated that a servant was going to attempt escape. Nobody was ever able to escape. It was too bad, he thought. He really liked Raye … maybe more. But now, she would die, and there was nothing he could do about it. Maybe she was better off dead than living like this. Chad turned away.  
  
Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
Mamoru and Setsuna were in charge of scouting out this part of town. Nephrite and Jadeite were taking the eastern part, Zoisite and Kunzite were taking the western part, and Luna and Artemis were taking the northern part. Already, they were regretting their choice of the southern part.  
  
As they asked around on the streets, they found that there was a rich man whom everyone referred to as "The Master" who ruled the roost here. He had connections with the local authorities, so he went around, doing all that he wished, killing, looting, and raping, without anyone to care for. Apparently, many girls who went to be servants for him (usually those who did not know about his cruel reputation) were never heard from again, though once in a while, as rumor had it, one would try to escape, fail, and be killed.  
  
Mamoru and Setsuna give each other grim glances. Who lived in this kind of world? Unfortunately, their search took them in front of "The Master's" house. It was a gruesome sight to behold. It was a cold stone house that was plain, but it was what was on the front lawn that horrified them. In one section of the lawn, there were several crosses … with crucified girls on them, some of them already beginning to rot. On another section, there were several heads of girls, sticking from pikes, their eyes still wide with terror as was their last expression.  
  
And then, there were the girls so mutilated, you could barely make out their features, just lying dead on the lawn. Setsuna turned away abruptly, and did her best not to spew out the contents of her stomach. Mamoru only clenched his hands. His face was determined. Once he learned how to master his powers, he would come back and punish this man.  
  
Suddenly, a furtive figure caught his glance. He tapped Setsuna, who turned back to the dreadful scene with a pale face. They both saw the fleeing figure now. She was running from the place, doing her best not to stumble. Suddenly, they caught sight of soldiers, running after her, throwing knives and such which she barely dodged.  
  
Mamoru and Setsuna knew what they were going to do. They couldn't let this girl be killed! But what could they do?  
  
"Over here," Mamoru called, just low enough for the girl to hear.  
  
Luckily, the girl was a smart one. She didn't look surprised or stumble once. She merely kept on running for her dear life. Suddenly, she ducked into the shadows, and began changing her direction while Setsuna slipped out and began to run ahead.  
  
The dim-witted guards continued following the fake girl as Mamoru helped this girl sneak away.  
  
"Thanks for helping," the girl gasped. "But what if they catch up with her?"  
  
Mamoru smiled. "She's running to her friends. Don't worry about her. She'll get away. My name is Mamoru … what's yours?"  
  
"I'm Raye," the girl answered. Raye looked up to meet the azure eyes and midnight black hair of Mamoru, and held her breath. She was in love. She bit her lip to keep from gasping.  
  
Mamoru looked for the first time at this girl, and smiled. "We've been looking for you," he said cryptically.  
  
"What do you mean?" Raye asked.  
  
"You are Mage-Princess Hino Rei of Mars."  
  
Mercury, Venus, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune  
  
Queen Serenity's hologram appeared. "You have done well, Luna, Artemis," Queen Serenity addressed. "You are about to receive your next instructions."  
  
"Yes, Queen Serenity," Artemis said. "Where shall we go next?"  
  
"You will travel to Uranus next and seek the mage-royalty of that planet. However, Uranusians would suspect you because of your large group. You will come to the moon first and report to me, bringing me the mage- royalty you have found thus far. They shall begin their lessons."  
  
"All right, Queen Serenity," Luna said. "We'll be glad to drop off the mage-royalty. How is young Sere?"  
  
Queen Serenity smiled. "My little bunny is so excited that she's going to turn 10, that she's been jumping around and telling everybody when her birthday is. She's a pleasure."  
  
Luna smiled. "I'll be happy to see her again."  
  
Queen Serenity smiled. "She's eager to see you two, too."  
  
  
  
CHAPTER FOUR – TEN'OU HARUKA  
  
  
  
Racecar driver Alex Urbana got out of his specially designed Uranusian racecar and waved negligently at the crowd. He smiled at the media before approaching the stand and receiving his trophy. He flashed another of his trademark smiles that made all of the girls swoon before casually strolling to his normal flying car and getting in. As he sped off "into the sunset" if that's what you called the pathetic little star that barely made in a difference in the temperature, he wiped his face. Uranus was a dry and hot planet, filled with parching winds, but it was the type of climate he thrived in.  
  
By the time he got to his underground dugout, like all of the other dugouts, only slightly bigger, he was sweating. He shook his head. As he stepped into his dugout, he shrugged off his outer clothing, the main reason he was so hot. This revealed that he was, in fact, not a man, but a woman.  
  
She was 13 years old, and already the most famous person on the planet. On Uranus, or on any of the other Outer Planets, females were inferior. It ranked from obvious male superiority like on Pluto or subtle female inferiority like on Neptune. Uranus was a bit less evident with it than Pluto.  
  
She sighed. Her parents had discarded her at birth, and she had learned to disguise herself as a boy. Wandering girls got attention … wandering boys didn't. When she had been around 10, she wandered into a Uranusian racing pit. She had fallen in love with racing. A kindly racer named Joe Fiji had taught her all about flying Uranusian cars, and Alex had gotten the gist.  
  
She had adopted the name Alex Urbana. Her true name was, as a matter of fact, Amara Alexandra Windom, but she had discarded that name along with her previous life. She stretched as the hottest part of the day passed by, staying cool in her dugout.  
  
A knock on the door sounded. Startled, she peeked through the eyehole, to find a man and woman, both obviously sweating from the heat. She frowned. These two were obviously strangers. Only strangers would not know that if you lingered during the driest part of the day, you could become dehydrated. (Note: My knowledge is extremely incorrect … who cares? It's just a story. P.S. I actually got this information from another fic.)  
  
She let them in immediately, careful to first adjust her clothes so she still looked male.  
  
The woman smiled at me gratefully. "Thank you. The moron, here," here she paused to whack the man on the head, "forgot that it would be so hot here, so we forgot to bring water and stuff."  
  
Alex raised her eyebrow, but got out two glasses of water, one for each of them. She watched in amazement as both glasses were gulped down within two seconds flat.  
  
"More water," the man gasped.  
  
Alex shook her head. "Drinking too much water too quickly will make you throw up." Finally, taking pity on them, she got more water for them. After carefully spacing out their water, they finally quenched their thirst.  
  
"Thank you so much," the woman gasped. "My name is Luna."  
  
"And I'm Artemis," the man offered.  
  
"I'm Alex Urbana," Alex said carefully, gauging their reactions. None at all. These were definitely strangers from far away. "So," she said, phrasing her question carefully. "Where are you from?"  
  
Luna blinked. "Hehehe," she giggled nervously. "What makes you think we're not from here?"  
  
Artemis jabbed her. "She means," he ad-libbed. "Our distant cousins live here, and they told us to blend in, but I guess it isn't working."  
  
"So, who are your cousins?"  
  
"Ten'ou Haruka," Luna said, ad-libbing nicely.  
  
"That's a Lunarian name," Alex pointed out. "There are no Lunarians living around here."  
  
"She must have adopted another name," Artemis said. "Besides, she doesn't live here. She lives far off." He motioned vaguely.  
  
That clinched it. Alex put down her glasses. "This is the only colonization on the planet of Uranus, unless you count its moons."  
  
"Its moons," Luna inserted. "Its just that we wanted to see what actual Uranus was like first."  
  
"Mm-hmm," Alex nodded, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Artemis looked at Alex intently. "Would you happen to have a twin sister?"  
  
"What?" Alex asked, startled.  
  
"We're looking for someone," he explained. "And you look like her, but you're a guy."  
  
Luna shook her head. "You're an idiot, Artemis. She's a girl …" she trailed off. "That would make her Mage-Princess Haruka Ten'ou of Uranus."  
  
Alex backed away. "Hmm?"  
  
"We've been looking for you," Luna said. "You are the Mage-Princess of Uranus."  
  
Mercury, Venus, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune  
  
"Queen Serenity. We have found the Mage-Princess of Uranus."  
  
"Good," Queen Serenity's serene and ageless face said thoughtfully. "Why don't you go to Neptune next?"  
  
"Yes, your highness."  
  
  
  
CHAPTER FIVE – KAIOH MICHIRU  
  
  
  
The star in the distance, which was actually the sun, shone faintly, but it's rays still reflected off of Neptune's oceans. Rolling waves splashed against the shores, and a single figure stood. Long, aqua tresses trailed down her back, her face was splotchy with tears, and she wore a clinging blue dress made of sheer, transparent silk.  
  
Michelle was afraid. She had no other name. Michelle was what her owner called her. It was all she remembered being called. And now, she was ready to run away.  
  
She was done being a slave. Being the slave of a tavern-master would be worse. Tavern-masters forced you to serve beer to unruly men who pinched what they could, and touched where they weren't supposed to. Tavern-masters made you entertain drunken men by dancing in front of them, and then made you go to their rooms. Tavern-masters even forced themselves on top of their slaves sometimes.  
  
She had heard the stories, but her master, a kindly old man named Regis, had always been sympathetic towards her. She and her friends had always been confident that they would never be sold. And then he died. The day Regis died was a horrible day. Not only were all of the slaves attached to him, because he was a kind master, but it meant the end of the peaceful life for them.  
  
The slave auction had been the worst. The slavemaster, a man who traded slaves for a living, had paraded her around the block. Then, there had been the bidding. She had been sold like a piece of meat!  
  
And then, that horrible, lecherous tavern-master had bought her. She had been allowed her few minutes of good-bye to her friends, but she had come here instead. She would not be a slave any longer. She was running away…or rather, swimming away. So saying, she dived into the ocean, and began swimming.  
  
While she swam, she thought. The slave-master was a stupid person. He had insured that she would have nowhere to run to, but he had forgotten that all Neptunian girls, slave or not, were all spectacular swimmers. A silly mistake. She was swimming for her life, and she knew she would make it, because she was one of the best swimmers there was.  
  
After a long while, though, her arms began to tire. She continued her long, powerful strokes, however. She did not swim out in the middle of the ocean with the purpose of feeding the sharks. Soon, though, even though her arms were used to forever hoeing at working at fields, they began to wilt. She could feel her adrenaline running out, and with it, her hope.  
  
Even as the last of her strength ran out, she saw a speck in the distance that surely signified land. As she swam closer, she could see it. She did not care if it was a hallucination or a trick of the stars. If she did not believe that was land, she would no longer have the will to go on.  
  
Determinedly, she swam the last stroke and made it to the island. When the last wave washed her upon it, though, she could already feel herself blacking out from lack of food and rest. ~Is this what it feels like to die?~ was her final thought.  
  
Mercury, Venus, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune  
  
She woke up to hazy surroundings and a buzzing sound in her ear. Immediately, she felt a cool cloth touch her forehead. Moments later, she regained her bearings, and she could see clearly again. She noticed that there was a tall, blond boy as well as a tall, white-haired guy, with a tall, black-haired lady.  
  
"Where am I?" she asked queasily. She felt like throwing up everything that was in her stomach, which was nothing.  
  
Immediately, the woman thrust a steaming bowl of soup into her hands. "Drink it," she commanded. "I promise you that it will make you feel better, and you won't throw it up no matter how hard you try."  
  
Michelle obeyed instantly and instinctively. The scalding hot soup burned her tongue, but she was faintly aware that it calmed her stomach's frantic movements, cleared her thoughts, and filled her stomach. "Thank you," she whispered, her throat still sore.  
  
The white-haired man shook his head. "Nonsense. And don't speak. You'll only hurt yourself. In truth, it is an honor to meet you."  
  
Michelle accepted another bowl of soup from the woman, who seemed to conjure them out of thin air, and raised an eyebrow. Why would anyone be honored to see her?  
  
Seeing her confused look, the woman spoke. "I am Luna, and that inconsiderate guy over there is Artemis." Michelle was faintly amused to note the half-affectionate, yet hidden glance she shot at him. "The girl over there is Ten'ou Haruka." Michelle was only slightly startled to find out that he was actually a she. On Neptune, women weren't considered for much, and were used often. Michelle had never been able to hide her body, not that she had ever needed to with her previous kind master. She knew of women who pretended to be men, however, to escape unwanted affections from both slave and master.  
  
"And?" Michelle whispered, clearing her throat, and wincing with pain.  
  
Immediately, Luna touched a cool washcloth to it. "And you, my dear, are Kaioh Michiru, Mage-Princess of Neptune."  
  
Mercury, Venus, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn  
  
Queen Serenity was talking to Artemis and Luna, but her eyes were ever alert. She noticed the hidden glances Haruka and Michiru exchanged, and smiled. She saw the glances Luna and Artemis exchanged, and smiled.  
  
But she still bit her lip. If destiny could flow so smoothly back at home, it would be perfect. Alas, Rei was so besotted with Mamoru, she never noticed the "calf-eyed glances", as young Sere termed then, that Jadeite shot her way. And Setsuna had lost the sense the planet of Pluto gave her, and had fallen in love with Mamoru herself. It was such an ongoing battle between the two of them, but Queen Serenity never interfered. She knew that Mamoru would choose neither of them, and instead, choose his own soul mate, the Mage-Princess of the Moon … whom no one knew about.  
  
Apparently, there was never a Moon Mage-Princess needed before now, and precious little was mentioned about her in the Book of Prophecies. She was being worried to death here!  
  
"Queen Serenity?" Luna interrupted her train of thought. "Queen Serenity?"  
  
Queen Serenity put on her normal undisturbed, tranquil smile. "Yes?"  
  
"I said, where are we going next?" Artemis asked, his impatience showing in his fidgeting.  
  
Queen Serenity thought to herself, and nodded sharply. "You will take the Mage-Princesses of Uranus and Pluto back to the moon. Your next destination will be Mercury."  
  
"Yes, My Queen," Luna and Artemis chorused.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER SIX – MIZUNO AMI  
  
  
  
She nervously brushed her dark blue hair back, her navy blue eyes blinking once. "Sixteen million, seven hundred and eighty-three thousand, two hundred and sixty-two," she murmured, her throat almost choking on the answer.  
  
The man opposite her smiled gently at her. "Is that the correct answer?"  
  
She blinked tears out of her eyes, but her face was furious. "Is that the correct answer! What kind of stupid question is that? Can I really lie … when you've imprisoned my family and threaten to kill them each and every single day!" Her voice rose up into a shriek, and she collapsed onto the chair, in hysterics.  
  
Shaking his head, Ryo Urawa, the questioner, gently picked her up. He carried her back to her cell, ignoring the murmurings around him, and regretfully locked the door.  
  
As he headed back to the questioning room, he paused by a guard. "Is this really necessary?" he asked finally.  
  
The guard gave him a sympathetic look. "Never fall in love with one of the Machines, mate. They only resent you."  
  
Ryo's face turned furious. "They're not Machines," he snapped irritably. "They're living and breathing human beings, just like the rest of us."  
  
The guard shook his head. He whistled. "You've got it bad if you've become blind. Sure they're human enough. But they're still called Machines 'cause they were born with the ability to figure out complicated problems in a matter of seconds."  
  
Ryo flushed and looked back at 178's cell. "Do they have to have bars on the windows though?" he asked finally. "And do they absolutely have to be sedated?"  
  
The guard spoke. "If we don't, they'd figure how to get out in a matter of minutes. Besides, what we do isn't any crueler than what you do. We don't lie to them and tell them we'll kill their parents if they don't obey … when we've already killed them."  
  
Ryo shook his head. "It's for her own good," he said lamely.  
  
The guard shook his head. "We don't disillusion ourselves either, and we don't torture them if they don't give us answers."  
  
"I don't torture my Machines," Ryo snapped, letting the dreaded word slip out in his anger.  
  
The guard only looked at him knowingly.  
  
"You know," Ryo said sadly. "Her name isn't 178. Her name was originally Amy Nera Hermia Anderson, but they stripped her of her name as well as her life when she was discovered at the age of 8."  
  
The guard looked at Ryo. "If you really love someone, you let the person go, Ryo my man. I'm tired. I'm going to get some shuteye now. I'm sure no one would mind if one Machine escaped while I was sick with fever." He walked away.  
  
Ryo looked around him hesitantly, and then returned to 178's cell. He unlocked the door, and pulled out Amy, who was wide-awake, having been fed no drugs for the last three days (thanks to Ryo) and having heard the conversation.  
  
"You lied to me?" Amy almost shrieked.  
  
Ryo shook his head. "Run," he whispered. "Run for your life … for your life, for mine, for the guard's, and for the millions of Machines who will be executed as an example."  
  
Mercury, Venus, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn  
  
Amy stumbled through the raining streets, covering her face in terror. Where was she supposed to run? She had nowhere to go … her family was dead… her friends would fear her. She had nothing. He should have just killed her. It would have been the kindest thing to do.  
  
She fell to the ground, weeping. She had nothing … nothing. She was startled when she felt a tapping on her shoulder. She looked up, doing nothing to hide her dark blue, soulful eyes, with that dreaded black, not blue, pupil that signified she was a Machine.  
  
Her eyes fell on a kindly looking man and woman, perhaps twelve years older than her. She bit her lip. She was 12 … a sorrowful looking twelve- year old indeed. What was she supposed to do?  
  
"We've been looking for you," the man said.  
  
Amy's stomach clenched. Were these the searchers? Would they execute her now? She did not really care, but Ryo had been nice, as had the Guard, and the other Machines didn't deserve to die.  
  
"You are the Mage-Princess Ami Mizuno of Mercury."  
  
Venus, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn  
  
"Queen Serenity, what is our next destination?" Luna asked. "And … please don't dump us into the middle of a street from ten feet up in the air again. It hurts."  
  
"How would you know?" Artemis retorted. "You landed on top of me."  
  
Ignoring him, Luna continued. "And I would like to know when we can go back to the moon."  
  
Queen Serenity smiled at her two advisors-in-training. "Your next destination is Jupiter. As for when you can come back for good … it depends on how long it takes you to find the other mage-royalty." She looked around them wistfully. "Just pretend that you're using up vacation time."  
  
"Yes, Your Majesty," Artemis sighed. "We long for the day we shall meet you again."  
  
  
  
CHAPTER SEVEN – KINO MAKOTO  
  
  
  
Thud. Thud. Squish. "Get off of me," Luna said in a low voice. "I think I'm going to … throw up!" Immediately, she attempted to twist so she would throw up in the opposite direction. Instead, her … vomit ended up on Artemis's face. There was an utter silence.  
  
Suddenly, Ami burst out laughing. Artemis was irritable. "What's so funny?" he snapped.  
  
Luna shook her head. At least Ami had finally laughed for the first time since she had joined them. "Artemis," she said. "This is what you get for not wanting to go first."  
  
Artemis glared. "Luna … if I didn't know better, I'd say you threw up on me on purpose."  
  
"Would I do that?" Luna asked innocently. Ami was still rolling around on the floor, laughing for the first time in ages.  
  
Artemis shot Luna and Ami a suspicious look, briefly wondering if they were in a conspiracy together, and grumbled, before turning away.  
  
Suddenly, a dark-haired girl with sharp green eyes and broom appeared. "Who are you three?" she demanded sharply. "Hobos? Beggars?"  
  
Taking in the girl's ragged street clothing and coarse accent, Luna immediately reacted. "Even if we are, does it really matter? Are you so high above us because you're a gangster?"  
  
The girl flushed, self-consciously touching the conspicuous bright green band around her wrist. She bit her lip nervously, and it was obvious that she hadn't really wanted to join the gang.  
  
"Luna," Artemis hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "Aren't you forgetting something? She's the Mage-Princess of Jupiter."  
  
Luna's face, however, had taken on a maternal outlook. "Do you want to talk about it?"  
  
That proved to be the wrong thing to say. "No," the girl lashed out. "I don't need anythin'."  
  
"Do you have a name?" Luna asked. "I really don't feel like calling you 'Hey you'."  
  
"My name," the girl paused. "I s'pose I don't really have a name. My 'rents 'bandoned me at the Orphanage when I was a tot, and I ran away a coupla years 'go. But … well, the gang calls me Lightning, so my friend shortened it and calls me Lita."  
  
"Lita," Luna said. "Why does your gang call you Lightning?"  
  
"Well," Lita said, unsure of whether or not to go on. "Th'day I ran away, I was s'posed to be in the greenhouse. It was rainin' hard, and I got lost real soon. Then, my friend Ken found me. Ken showed me th'gang, but told me I din't hafta join if I din't wanna. Later, tho', a buncha punks showed up and told me to join the gang or else. Suddenly, lightning went through the air. 'Parently, the punks were afraida lightning, and they left me alone. I joined the gang 'nyways 'cause my only friend was in there," she finished. "'Nyways, they called me Lightning ever since."  
  
"Well, your name is no longer either Lita or Lightning," Luna said. "Your name is Makoto Kino, and you are the Mage-Princess of Jupiter."  
  
Ami finally spoke up. "Why didn't you tell her earlier?"  
  
Luna shook her head. "I was curious."  
  
"Curiosity killed the cat," Artemis reminded her.  
  
"I'm not a cat," Luna told him. "We're in human form … remember?"  
  
Venus, Moon, Saturn  
  
"Your next stop is Venus," Queen Serenity announced. "We'll drop off for the leader of the Inner Mage-Princesses."  
  
"Yes, My Queen."  
  
  
  
CHAPTER EIGHT – AINO MINAKO  
  
  
  
Mina Leila Love was very nervous as she brushed her hair. She was expected to be a woman who sold herself on the streets when she grew up, like her mother was before her. The problem was, she didn't want to be. She believed that she was worth more than that. She was due a better destiny. Her mother believed that, too, and she had no father to contradict the thought. Now, she only had to run away from the brothel while her mother distracted the manager, and everything would be perfect.  
  
If the owner of the brothel found that she was planning to run away, he would make her sleep with the customers already, though she was only 12. She was able to keep quiet, but she needed to run away soon, before a rowdy customer decided that she was fair game.  
  
Her mother would be punished for this, unless the owner never made the connection. Mina knew that the owner was … the nicest way to put it would be …very dense. He would never make the connection, but other jealous, spiteful girls might, and might tell him. It was all in the timing.  
  
"Oh, Mr. Sullivan. Just the man I wanted to see," a voice cooed. Mina held her breath. You can do it, mother. "I wanted to ask you about the ~dreadful~ leak in the bedroom. Many … customers have been disturbed by it."  
  
She could almost feel Mr. Sullivan roll his eyes. "Then use your daughter's bedroom," he snapped, "and have her sleep in yours."  
  
"But Mr. Sullivan," Mina's mother said. "Her bed is so small."  
  
"Fine," Mr. Sullivan grumbled. "I'll see what I can do."  
  
As soon as Mina heard the steps fade away, she quietly rushed out of the door and to the nearest window. She hurriedly tried to pull open a window, but it was stuck. Suddenly, voices came down the hallway.  
  
"I don't know what happened, Mr. Sullivan. It was just like that."  
  
"Well, I need my tools to fix a whole that big. You should have told me sooner. The acid rain we get wears away at the whole and makes it even bigger."  
  
Mina gulped. She tugged one last time, and just as her mother and Mr. Sullivan were rounding the corner, she leaped out.  
  
A moment later, they got there. Looking at the open window, Mr. Sullivan frowned. "Someone opened the window," he said. "People know better than to do that."  
  
He gingerly closed the window, careful of the freezing cold and acidic residue left from the last rainfall, and didn't bother to look down, where he would have seen Mina.  
  
Venus, Moon, Saturn  
  
Mina knew that soon, the freezing cold would turn into searing heat. She shivered, but she was dressed warmly, and she hurriedly scrambled for shelter. She found herself bumping into someone.  
  
"Pardon," she murmured. She looked up into the eyes of a girl with dark blue hair and navy blue eyes. For some reason, she seemed slightly familiar.  
  
"Wait," the girl called out as she turned to leave. "I'm Ami, and you're …" she trailed off, hesitating. "You're Mage-Princess Minako Aino of Venus."  
  
Moon, Saturn  
  
"Where shall we travel next?" Luna asked.  
  
"And after that?" Artemis inquired.  
  
Queen Serenity looked at the humans, who yearned to be cats again, to be inconspicuous. She finally spoke. "You shall travel to Saturn, and then back to the Moon for the last Mage-Princess. As a reward, you shall be able to revert from cat-form to human-form whenever you choose."  
  
"Thank you, Queen Serenity," Luna and Artemis said, together, bowing as the hologram winked out.  
  
  
  
CHAPTER NINE – TOMOE HOTARU  
  
  
  
The young girl huddled in a heap, watching with wide eyes as the tall lady walked over. "K-K-Kaori. Miss Night. D-D-Does my stepmother want anything?" she whispered.  
  
Kaori Night looked over her pathetic charge and sighed. "Yes, Heather," she drawled out. "Mistress Nine wishes to speak with you about that horrid job of dusting you did with Dr. Tomoe's laboratory."  
  
"But Miss Eudial said I didn't have to dust the … tubes," Heather trailed off, quelling under Kaori's glare.  
  
"Your ~father~ needs cleanliness for his experiments," Kaori said coldly. "You shall be punished, of course."  
  
"No," Heather whispered. "No. Please don't. I promise I won't forget again. I promise," she whimpered as Kaori dragged her off.  
  
"Mistress Nine," Kaori bowed. "I have brought her."  
  
A tall woman with flying black hair and evil glowing eyes turned around. "Ahhhhhhhh," she said in a voice filled with evil. "Here comes my … disobedient daughter."  
  
"I'm sorry mother, I mean stepmother, I mean Mistress Nine," Heather whispered. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Of course you're sorry, child," Mistress Nine said lazily.  
  
Heather looked up hopefully.  
  
"But you still need to be punished," Mistress Nine sighed. "Such a shame." Suddenly, her fingers pointed at Heather.  
  
Heather suddenly felt every nerve, every muscle, and every bone in her writhe in pain. She cried out as she felt herself collapse to the floor from it. "Please," she whispered, her throat constricting with the pain. "Please make it stop. I'll do anything."  
  
Mistress Nine smiled nastily. "Bring on the cat o' nine tails."  
  
Heather was still writhing in pain, and her eyes squeezed together with pain and terror as she watched the dreadful whip brought forward, each of the nine whip-ends almost alive. She whimpered again.  
  
Suddenly, the almost dull pain disappeared, and a searing pain appeared on her back. She could feel the nine different lashes on her back, drenched with pain. And again. And again. The lashes came so many times, she felt like fainting. Suddenly, she reared with pain. Mistress Nine's hands curled lazily. "Can't have you fainting too early, can I? It'd spoil the fun."  
  
Heather whimpered as her heart began to constrict. She watched Mistress Nine's hands, squeezing her invisible heart, as she felt her world suddenly slow down. Mistress Nine's other hand began to curl lazily, too. Slowly, Heather felt her lungs shrinking, felt herself grow short of breath. Just as black spots danced lazily outside of her vision, she felt, with sudden relief, the invisible hands on her heart and lungs go away.  
  
Suddenly, a figure formed in the doorway. "Daddy," Heather murmured.  
  
"What's going on here?" Dr. Tomoe asked in a strong voice, watching with pain as his daughter collapsed to the floor.  
  
Not batting an eyelash, Mistress Nine arose. "Your daughter did a terrible thing, and she's being punished for it. Don't worry about her. The punishment is over, and she wasn't punished too much. It's not like she's in much pain. Besides," she continued, laying her hand on Dr. Tomoe's chest. "You have something to settle with me. Look into my eyes."  
  
Slowly, Dr. Tomoe did just that, and his eyes became blank, before they, too, started glowing. "My Mistress," he rasped. "I do. Something in bed."  
  
"Daddy," Heather whimpered again.  
  
For a flash, it seemed as if Dr. Tomoe was back to normal. Suddenly, his eyes began glowing again, steadily, this time. "Who is this? This is no daughter of mine. She is illegitimate … worthless… an idiot as well. Dispose of her."  
  
Kaori bowed. "Yes, Dr. Tomoe," she said in a reverent voice, unaware of Mistress Nine's glare. She yanked Heather up. "Time for me to take care of the garbage," she hissed. "Time for you to die."  
  
"Daddy," Heather called out weakly. "Daddy!"  
  
Dr. Tomoe turned away, and followed Mistress Nine. Kaori spitefully yanked on Heather's weak arm, and she cried out in pain.  
  
"It's dry and dusty outside," she said. "And cold, too. I think I'll leave you there, before killing you."  
  
So saying, she dumped Heather outside.  
  
Moon, Saturn  
  
Ami, Minako, and Makoto followed Luna and Artemis closely. The dark, dismal planet of Saturn with its beautiful rings was awe-inspiring, as well as scary. As they wound through twisting streets, and passed by large mansions, Ami tried not to remember the night they had come to take her away.  
  
Suddenly, Luna tripped over something. Startled, she stepped back, to see a heap of bruises, welts, and black skin on the ground. She gently took her pulse, to reveal her alive, but barely. She pushed her over, and saw the face of the Mage-Princess of Saturn.  
  
Immediately, the others huddled over to see what was wrong.  
  
"She's CMC[1]. If we don't get her on the moon immediately, she won't make it," Artemis said grimly.  
  
Luna pressed the emergency button on her astral-projection unit. "Queen Serenity … Saturn's going to die if we don't hurry and …"  
  
  
  
EPILOGUE  
  
  
  
The faces were serious as they watched the small, frail, Hotaru Tomoe recover. Suddenly, young Princess Serenity ran up, her ten-year-old face grave. "Hotaru," she whispered. "Hota-chan. Time to wake up, Hota-chan. Everyone's waiting for you."  
  
At that moment, Hotaru's heart rate plummeted. Queen Serenity moved over to tell her young child that "Hota-chan" had gone to the Fields of Elysian, when suddenly, Princess Serenity's face grew fierce. "Hota-chan," she ordered in an authoritative voice. "You have to wake up now. Everyone's worried about you." She placed her hand over Hotaru's heart.  
  
Slowly, steadily, Hotaru's heartbeat returned to normal. Everyone watched with awe as Hotaru was steadily healed. When she looked healthy again, Princess Serenity sagged, caught by Mamoru. She sleepily opened her eyes. "Sweet dreams, Hota-chan," she murmured.  
  
Queen Serenity smiled proudly at her daughter. "She's coming into her inheritance," she said in her soft, tranquil voice. "She's becoming the little Princess of the legends. She has control over the Silver Crystal."  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: To everyone: This is only Book 1. You must wait before I post the second Book one, and it'll be a while before I finish it. No, they do not know that Princess Serenity is the Mage-Princess of the Moon, for those of you are confused. Did I say that Princess Serenity was the Mage-Princess of the Moon? Didn't you figure it out already? Shame on you if you haven't.  
  
----------------------- [1] Critical Medical Condition 


End file.
